July 8 (SeeNews) - The government plans to keep a majority stake in the share capital of Telekom Serbia even if it launches the sale of some assets of the company, the country's president Aleksandar Vucic said.
Serbia made a mistake by trying to sell the telco once and now there is no need to privatise it, Vucic said in a video file posted on the website of news agency Tanjug on Sunday.
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"We will always keep a majority stake in Telekom Serbia, of more than 51%," Vucic said.
At the end of 2015, the Serbian government decided to retain control of Telekom Srbija after all offers from potential investors for the privatisation of the incumbent telco were deemed unsatisfactory.
The government owns a 58.11% stake in the capital of Telekom Serbia directly. The company has a treasury stock of 20%, Serbian citizens control 14.95%, while 6.94% of the share capital is owned by employees of the company, according to data from the company's 2018 annual financial report.
The Serbian company is majority owner of the second-largest telecommunications operator in Bosnia, Telekom Srpske. It also controls Montenegrin mobile operator M:Tel.
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