Greek, Swedish Joint Venture Buys Serbia's B92

In a statement on Thursday, B92 defended the sale of the TV and radio station, which became best known for its independent news coverage during the era of Serbia's strongman, Slobodan Milosevic.

The Greek and Swedish investors would supply "the necessary funds for its [B92's] further development at a time of economic crisis, which has had a strong adverse impact on the media market," it said.

The B92 Trust, led and managed by the founders and managers of the company, retains 11.35 per cent of the shares, while small shareholders hold another 3.66 per cent. Veran Matic remains editor-in-chief.

Sources in the company told Balkan Insight that negotiations on the sale had been ongoing for months as the B92 management haggled with the Greeks over the editorial policy of the news programmes and over severance pay for employees who will be axed.

"There are reports that about 200 people will be fired," the source told Balkan Insight. This would be about half of the total number of employees.

The B92 statement on Thursday insisted that the buyout would not lead to a change in editorial policy for the news programme, which "will remain under the control of the B92 Trust". 

Greek investors obtained a foothold in the Serbian media market when they bought Fox TV, now called Prva, last December. Since then, critics have said the quality of the Prva's programmes has declined in an attempt to attract mass audiences and earn more money.