On multiple occasions, editors from United Media outlets have raised questions with United Group leadership regarding plans to scale down the Group’s media operations in Serbia, as revealed in a conversation between Sten Miler and Vladimir Lučić, published by OCCRP.
We have received no answers—only statements that raise even more questions. Since repetition is the mother of learning, we are once again asking for clear answers to the following:
- When Stan Miller tells Vladimir Lučić that he must make the company in Serbia “small,” thereby implying a reduction in United Group’s media operations in Serbia—what exactly does that mean? It’s been nearly a month since the OCCRP published the recording, and we still have no clarification.
- When Miller uses the term “KGB doggy job,” what is he referring to? More importantly—where does that slang come from? What kind of experience or jobs is he alluding to, and who carried them out?
- What is the meaning behind the part of the conversation where Miller tells Lučić that he knows Aleksandar Vučić asked Nikos Stathopoulos to swiftly replace Aleksandra Subotić?
- Why do your official statements distract from the core issue—the recording that clearly reveals political bargaining?
- Finally, if you truly have no intention of changing editorial policy, selling the media outlets, or downsizing media operations—why not deposit the 120 million euros mentioned in your own statement? The former leadership intended that sum to ensure the independence and survival of N1 and Nova TV for the next ten years. Wouldn’t such a step eliminate all doubts? It would guarantee stable operations for N1 and Nova, independent of cable operators.
We remind you that the previous leadership of United Group informed the editors of N1 and Nova S—before the sale of the SBB cable operator—that if, under pressure from the Serbian authorities, future owners were to remove N1 from the airwaves, they would provide us with the means to continue as an internet-based television channel. Furthermore, 120 million euros would be placed in a fund to cover all employee costs for the next decade, ensuring we could continue working freely.
That was an alternative survival and protection model for all of us—something you, respected leadership, might have known had you ever reached out or asked us anything.
These are the questions we are asking. These are the questions that are crucial for the future of United Media’s newsrooms in Serbia.
We are still waiting for answers.
Source: N1
