N1 TV Program Director Igor Bozic reacted to a post by Serbian Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabic regarding the alleged sale of United Media outlets, describing it as “scandalous.” Bozic clarified that the media outlets were never sold and that their ownership has remained unchanged throughout.
In her post on X, Brnabic referenced an N1 article that reminded readers of a leaked phone conversation between United Group CEO Stan Miller and Telekom Srbija CEO Vladimir Lucic. In the recording, Lucic says that the Serbian president had asked them to dismiss United Media chief executive Aleksandra Subotic, while Miller suggests that the company she leads should be “made small.”
The Parliament speaker’s response ignored the existence and contents of the recording, focusing instead on defending President Vucic. She argued that Vucic is not responsible for the fact that—as she put it—Dragan Solak sold his media outlets, adding that it is only natural for a new owner to implement changes.
“So it’s Vucic’s fault that Solak sold his media?! They sold them, took a massive amount of money, and now @avucic is to blame for that and for the majority owner — the very person they sold those media outlets to— now wanting to change things in the outlets they bought? The fact that their stories lack any sense or logic has never stopped them from running a campaign. For months, they have been campaigning about how Vucic wants to shut them down. The very Vucic who made it possible for them to come to Serbia, to operate in Serbia, even to ignore Serbian laws but instead present themselves to us as Luxembourgish media outlets. What does Vucic have to do with a business transaction between two private firms? Nothing. And yet, he is both guilty and responsible! What insane, yet masterful manipulation. It’s like if I sell my house. Pera buys it. I take the money, but I refuse to move out. And then, who is to blame when Pera wants to evict me so he can move into the house he bought from me? Well—Vucic,” Brnabic’s post on X said.
N1 Program Director Igor Bozic said that the reorganization of the media outlets that were part of United Media appears to be the implementation of the plan discussed in the call between Vladimir Lucic and Stan Miller, noting that Aleksandra Subotic has indeed been dismissed. He described Brnabic’s post as scandalous, especially the “taking the money but refusing to move out” analogy.
“She wants to say – we paid, that is, Telekom paid for a portion of United Group in Serbia and now expects certain things in return. She denies it, of course, saying that Yettel took one part and Telekom another. But the tone and the narrative they are pushing is essentially: ‘Hey, we paid for this, and now we want to control it. What are you complaining about? Get out of the house we paid for,’” Bozic explained.
He reiterated that these claims are entirely false, that “they did not buy that house, it remains the property of United Group.”
Bozic concluded by addressing the risks faced by his team: “The problem — and this is something we heard in that conversation between Stan Miller and Vladimir Lucic — is that there’s something more going on here than a straightforward business transaction. That is what worries us, and we will, of course, continue doing what we have been doing, as I said. I would be delighted if all these people continue working with us and keep supporting what we do. And what we do is an incredibly dangerous job, in a country where journalists have been threatened, where our reporters were beaten by police officers at protests, where no one has ever been held accountable for that, and where even lawyers connected to that United Group in Serbia — tied to Telekom — are threatening us with lawsuits. So from the people who have now taken over management, we expect support in that regard as well,” he concluded.
United Group said on Thursday that it is putting in place a new governance framework for its news assets, delivering on its commitment to safeguard editorial independence and protect journalistic freedoms.
As part of this media reorganization, a new entity, Adria News Network (ANN), has been established to consolidate and manage the group’s television, print, and digital media outlets across Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia—including N1, Nova S, Vijesti, and Danas. The Board of Directors for this new company includes Rani R. Raad, Brent Sadler, and Nigel Baker, with Niall Martin, Kirenga Mbonampeka, and Thomas Probst set to join.
In addition to Nigel Baker, the Editorial Council includes May Chidiac and Simon Bucks.
In mid-2025, investigative journalists released an audio recording featuring Stan Miller and Vladimir Lucic discussing the dismissal of Aleksandra Subotic, an effort to “make very small” the media outlets within United Media, and plans to advance the interests of President Aleksandar Vucic.
According to testimony from United Group CEO Stan Miller, Nikos Stathopoulos, as a key figure for United Group within the BC Partners structure, coordinated internal processes at media outlets with which Aleksandar Vucic has had a long-standing conflict. These measures included the removal of United Media chief executive Aleksandra Subotic and a reduction in critical reporting on N1 and Nova S.
Source: N1
