May 17, 2017
Večernje Novosti (Evening News), a national daily newspaper with a tradition dating back six decades and which once had the highest circulation in the country, could stop being produced as of August due to accumulated company debts.
Employees noted that the new management has inherited 11 million euros of debt and also owes the state more than 300 million dinars in taxes, while in August the last loan instalment of €425,000 arrives, which the company cannot pay.
They are also seeking a solution to the management problem, as the majority owner is businessman Milan Beko, while the State is the minority owner. However, since 2013 the state has managed the company, because Beko failed to fulfil the conditions of the privatisation deal and buy the remaining 30 per cent from the state.
State Secretary at the Ministry of Information, Nino Brajović, said that the state is not responsible for the company’s problems, because Večernje Novosti is under private ownership, but promised that it would mediate in the resolving of problems.
Meanwhile, editor in chief Ratko Dmitrović resigned because, as he says, his mandate expired. Employees, however, say that his mandate expires in November and that Dmitrović left them in the lurch, which is why they are seeking his replacement.
