Telekom Srbija will not be privatized during the current government's term and preparations are underway for transformation of the enterprise into an open joint stock company and for a free distribution of shares to citizens and current and former employees of that enterprise, Serbian Minister of Economy and Regional Development Nebojsa Ciric told Tanjug Tuesday.

The activities will be conducted over the summer so that Serbia's citizens and employees of the national telecommunications service provider Telekom Srbija and the national postal service Posta Srbije could receive the free shares in September, Ciric said.

When the transformation of Telekom Srbija into an open joint stock company is completed, its shares will start being traded at the Belgrade Stock exchange, Ciric said, adding that in that way, Telekom should become more competitive in the market and do a more successful business.

The attempt to privatize Telekom Srbija in the spring of this year failed, because the only interested company, Telekom Austria, did not meet the financial conditions of the tender. The Serbian government laid down EUR 1,4 billion as the minimum price for a 51 percent stake in Telekom Srbija and the Austrian company offered a lower bid.