Serbian President Boris Tadic stated that Telekom Srbija telecommunications company will not be sold below EUR 1.4 billion, although many people are criticising the government in advance, saying that it is prepared to do such a thing.

“In keeping with the law, the government has opened talks with the bidder as to whether the desired price can be achieved. The bidder has not replied yet. If they accept the price, the government will provide a positive answer. If they do not accept the price, I am sure that our answer will not be positive,” Tadic said in an interview for the Thursday edition of the Belgrade-based daily Novosti.

Tadic noted that it would be difficult to achieve a comparatively high price for Telekom since the company's impact is regional rather than global.

“Telekom has this price today, but in the long run, competing with global companies is not a possibility. In a two or three years' time, we could easily face the situation in which Telekom could be taken over for much less money, and who would then be to blame for the fact that the country did not realise the potential it has now, while it is still there,” Tadic said.

According to Tadic, decisions need to be made at right moments, and now it is such a time, although the government has more harm than benefit from it, since a great part of citizens is confused by the general anxiety and does not welcome the decision.