MOSTAR, Jan 14 (Hina) - The management of GSM operator "Eronet", with main offices in Grude (southern Bosnia-Herzegovina), on Tuesday dismissed suspicions of the Croat-Muslim federal government that the ownership of the Croatian
Telekom (HT) in this company might be contentious.
MOSTAR, Jan 14 (Hina) - The management of GSM operator "Eronet",
with main offices in Grude (southern Bosnia-Herzegovina), on
Tuesday dismissed suspicions of the Croat-Muslim federal
government that the ownership of the Croatian Telekom (HT) in this
company might be contentious. #L#
It is true that Croatian Telekom holds 49 percent of shares in
Eronet, and there is nothing contentious about it, because the
stock was regularly registered pursuant to the Foreign Investments
Act, the Eronet executive director, Stanko Sarac, told a news
conference on Tuesday.
The management board's chairman, Bozo Knezevic, added that the
Bosnian trade ministry had given the green light for the investment
of Croatia's HT into Eronet.
After yesterday's session of the Federation's government, the
federal minister of transport and communications, Besim Mehmedic,
said the Council of Ministers (i.e. the Bosnian government) was
asked to "raise the question of the disputable ownership of the
Croatian Post and Croatian Telekom from the Republic of Croatia" in
Eronet.
The Eronet company has been for days the subject of heated debates
in Bosnia, after the temporary manager of Hercegovacka Bank, Tobby
Robinson, recently decided to sell 4.48 percent of its shares to the
Grude municipality.
A company called Hrvatski Telekom (Croatian Telekom), based in
Mostar, voiced opposition to the sale, claiming that while the
Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) was in power, the ownership of
Eronet shares had been illegally taken away from the Mostar-based
Hrvatski Telekom, and that those shares now had to be given back to
it.
The federal government on Monday decided to prevent the further
privatisation of Eronet, accusing Tobby Robinson of illegally
selling the shares to the Grude municipality. According to the
government, the company was not registered by the Securities
Commission.
The government of the Croat-Muslim entity also asked the government
on the state level (the Council of Ministers) not to issue any
operation licence to Eronet as the third mobile telephony operator.
So far, two operators have received operation licences in Bosnia-
Herzegovina.
(hina) ms