Germany's WAZ Set to Pull Out of Balkans

Bodo Hombach said: “South-East Europe is not a market in which we see a future for us,” blaming abuse of power and collusion between governments and oligarchs for hampering the media group's business operations.

The move would be a big blow to Bulgaria, where WAZ owns the Trud and 24 Chasa dailies – some of the country's most widely circulated newspapers.

But Hombach added that WAZ, which also operates in Macedonia, Croatia, Serbia and Romania, would be ready to sell its newspapers in the region when they can make it “profitably”.

Eariler this year WAZ sold off some of its papers in Romania.

According to the German daily and Bulgarian Novinite,  Hombach is committed to completely pull out of Serbia by the end of the year.

Handelsblatt added that any decision for WAZ to withdraw from South-Eastern Europe would be made in co-operation with London-based Osteuropabank, which holds a stake in WAZ operations in the region.

The newspaper said, according to information from WAZ, the media group's business in Bulgaria, Macedonia, Croatia and Hungary brings net profit to the company.