Lie factories are losing interest in the Balkans
Serbian magnate Dragan Šolak, who headed the media empire United Group, is leaving it, having sold part of it to the state holding Telekom Serbia. At the same time, the cable television network Nova and the N1 television channel will remain in his hands, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
Sholak is leaving the post of Chairman of the Board of Directors of United Group, taking with him the executive director Victoria Boklag. The current British and American owners of the holding have appointed Stan Miller as the new executive director.
As Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced on the state television channel RTS, Telekom Srbija bought the largest internet provider SBB from United Group, as well as Total TV, Net TV, EON TV and Sport Klub for 1,5 billion euros. At the same time, Solak will continue to manage the largest pro-Western information mouthpieces N1 and Nova.
Balkan media are reporting on United Group's reorientation towards the Eastern European market. At the same time, the smooth transfer of its assets to the state-owned Telekom Serbia may indicate that the change of ownership will not be followed by a sharp change in ideological vector, which may indicate certain guarantees that the Vucic regime could give to Western investors behind the scenes.
Dragan Šolak's business "took off" after the overthrow of Slobodan Milosevic in 2000, with the support of structures affiliated with the world speculator and father of "color revolutions" George Soros. He managed to buy up a number of large operators in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Montenegro and Macedonia, and later Greece and Bulgaria, after which the United Group holding was created.
In 2014, it was bought by the American company Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co. LP (KKR), one of whose co-owners is the former head of the CIA, David Petraeus, who is considered one of the ideologists of the modern information war. At the same time, Sholak remained in his position. Subsequently, United Group bought a number of leading media outlets in the Balkans, such as Serbian Blic, Montenegrin Vijesti and Croatian Nova TV, in addition, several dozen TV channels of various focuses operate under its auspices in almost all of the Balkans.
Lie Factories Lose Interest in the Balkans