RECORDING OF CONVERSATION BETWEEN TELEKOM AND UNITED GROUP DIRECTORS PUBLISHED: “I know Vučić called you and is upset, I can’t fire Aleksandra today” (VIDEO)

The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) has published an audio recording of a phone conversation between United Group (UG) Director Stan Miller and Telekom Serbia Director Vladimir Lučić, in which they also spoke about the removal of Aleksandra Subotić, the CEO of United Media, which owns N1, a Serbian TV channel that has documented nine months of anti-government protests.

The directors of Telekom Serbia and the Netherlands-registered company United Group discussed strategies to weaken a broadcaster that has provided a platform for opposition voices amid massive protests against the Serbian government, according to the leaked audio recording.

OCCRP and KRIK previously reported on meetings between United Group CEO Stan Miller and Vladimir Lučić, director of the state-owned Telekom Serbia and a close ally of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić. The report was based on interviews with a person familiar with the internal conversations, as well as on photographs and leaked internal correspondence.

In a conversation earlier this month, the two directors considered plans to remove Aleksandra Subotić, the CEO of United Media, a United Group subsidiary that owns several Serbian media outlets, including the TV station N1.

In the recording, among other things, Miller is heard saying: “Vlada, I don’t know who promised you what, but when I promise, I deliver. I am a man of my word. The problem is that things are happening too fast in many ways, including things in Serbia, and I have less influence there than what we talked about when we met in Belgrade. I can’t fire Aleksandra today, as we discussed. I have to make the company in Serbia very small, if you understand what I’m telling you. To break it up. That takes time, and I think we understand each other on that. We have to reach out to the banks to act quickly. I understand that the president called you and is very upset, I understand that, but I have to find the time to do it quickly, quickly. I don’t know what Niko, or someone else promised you, but I will do everything to help you.”

The recording of that conversation, obtained by OCCRP and KRIK, is now available to the public.

For years, Subotić has defended editorial independence despite political pressure, which has intensified during the past nine months of protests against corruption and government authoritarianism.

Several pro-government media outlets went on the offensive regarding the article published yesterday by OCCRP and KRIK, claiming that the reporting was false.

However, the audio recording confirms other evidence that the directors discussed Subotić’s removal, both during that conversation and at an earlier in-person meeting in the Serbian capital, Belgrade.

“I can’t fire Aleksandra today, as we talked about, okay? I have to make that company in Serbia very small, if you understand me, and separate it,” Miller is heard telling Lučić.

“Vučić asked Nikos to remove only Aleksandra Subotić”

Lučić told Miller that Vučić had already discussed Subotić’s removal with Nikos Stathopoulos, the president of BC Partners, the British investment firm that owns a majority stake in United Group.

“President Vučić asked Nikos to remove only Aleksandra Subotić, not the directors of N1 and Nova, because he was aware that it is difficult to change the director of N1 now,” said Lučić.

A spokeswoman for the Serbian president, in a brief response to questions from KRIK and OCCRP before the report’s publication on August 27, said that Vučić “did not influence the editorial policy of the media, nor was he interested in it.”

Stathopoulos did not respond to a request for comment. The law firm representing BC Partners requested a copy of the conversation recording between Lučić and Miller but provided no additional comments.

BC Partners previously stated to journalists in an email statement that United Group “has never been, nor will it ever be, inappropriately influenced by political pressures in any country where it invests or operates,” adding: “United Media has always guaranteed and will continue to guarantee the independence of its editorial and journalistic staff.”

Lučić did not respond to a request for comment regarding the audio recording. He previously told journalists that the conversation was about “technical and compliance issues.” He added at the time: “We do not interfere in personnel decisions in other companies.”

At the beginning of his recorded conversation with Lučić, Miller referred to the unstable situation, saying: “Serbia is exploding under our asses.”