The Serbian government decided on May 5 that it would reject Telecom Austria's bid for 51 per cent of Telecom Serbia's shares. The Austrians had offered to pay EUR 1,1bn, the Serbian government's media cooperation director, Milivoje Mihajlovic, said.

Mihajlovic stated that the government was fully acquainted with Serbia's Telecom sales process and that it had accepted the recommendations made by the working group in charge of the process.

When asked what would be happening next to Telecom Serbia, Mihajlovic told reporters that the government had not discussed this matter.

The working group for the sale of Telecom Serbia recommended to the Serbian government on May 4 to reject Austrian's offer. Telecom Austria was the only bidder and the company had offered to pay EUR 800mn immediately, with further payments of EUR 300mn at most, in installments over the next nine years.

According to the tender the minimal price for 51 per cent of Telecom Serbia should have been EUR 1.4bn.