The Serbian Finance Ministry refuted on Friday the reports of some local media that there were negotiations underway with Telekom Austria on improving their bid to buy a 51 percent stake in Telekom Srbija, the ministry told Tanjug.

The final decision on the validity of the bid by Telekom Austria will be issued on Monday, March 28, by the working group in charge of the sale of Telekom Srbija, which is led by State Secretary at the Finance Ministry Vuk Djokovic.

The minimum price demanded by the Serbian government for the 51 percent stake in Telekom Srbija was EUR 1.4 billion and Telekom Austria was the sole bidder on Monday, March 22, offering EUR 950 million for the company's assets and EUR 450 million for investments over the next three years.

Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic said Friday that there were no negotiations underway with Telekom Austria on any deal regarding the sale of Telekom Srbija, and pointed out that by Monday, March 28, the Finance Ministry's working group would come out with a proposal about the future of the tender.

The deadline for submitting binding offers in the tender to sell 51 percent stake in Telekom Srbija, for which the government set a minimum price of EUR 1.4 billion, expired on March 21, and the tender was announced on October 20.

Potential buyers were previously notified that the Serbian government would sell a 31 percent stake along with a 20 percent stake in the company owned by Greece's OTE, the Finance Ministry told Tanjug.

The tender documents for buying part of the stake of Telekom Srbija has been purchased by the company Deutsche Telekom, Telekom Austria, America Movil, Vedder Investment Company, Turkcell, VimpelCom and France Telecom, which withdrew from the tender in the meanwhile.