Former chairman of Montenegro’s Telekom privatization tender commission Branko Vujović said the documentation confirms the sale followed established rules and procedures. MATAV bought the state’s 51.12% stake for 114 million euros, the highest offer in a four-bidder tender.
The other bids were 93 million euros from Telekom Slovenije, 88.9 million euros from Telekom Srbije and 87 million euros from Mobilkom Austria. Vujović said discussion of the privatization should be based on the complete documentation, not selected parts.
Bid assessment and contract terms
A Commission report dated 5 January 2005 described MATAV’s proposed contract amendments as “extremely unfavourable.” The assessment applied only to the amendments, not to the company’s full bid. MATAV had sought greater state liability, wider compensation rights and more favourable terms for share transfers and payments.
The Commission rejected the requested amendments and applied the maximum points deduction in the relevant part of the evaluation. MATAV’s investment programme received zero of 10 points, but the company remained the top-ranked bidder because it had offered the highest price. Legal advisers Janković, Popović and Mitić had envisaged that the Commission could rank MATAV and invite it to negotiations.
The Commission could require MATAV to drop the unacceptable terms, with rejection of its bid possible only if it refused. During negotiations, MATAV withdrew all requests to amend the draft contract. The final agreement was signed on 15 March 2005, following decisions by the competent bodies.
The state did not guarantee MATAV the right to buy two-thirds of Telekom’s shares, and the request was neither accepted nor included in the final contract. The transaction covered the state’s 51.12% holding, acquired for 114 million euros.
Investment and employment commitments
The Government adopted the privatization strategy on 15 October 2004. Vujović’s position was that the outcome should be judged against the final contract and fulfilled obligations, rather than the initial negotiating demands. He said the deal met the strategy’s key objectives and brought Telekom a strategic European partner.
During the first five years after the sale, 94 million euros was invested in Telekom, compared with a planned 60 million euros. The social programme and collective agreement were accepted. A total of 14 million euros was allocated to resolving excess staffing, with individual payments of up to 34,000 euros.
MATAV also took over Telekom’s existing obligations to state institutions and other parties. Network modernization and the introduction of new technologies contributed to improvements in telecommunications services. Over the following two decades, taxes, dividends, infrastructure investment, service development and other activities produced financial and development effects, according to Vujović.
He described public debate about the privatization as legitimate, provided it drew on complete facts rather than selective readings of documents. Vujović said the documentation and results “confirm the correctness of the procedure carried out.”
