Audio leak: Telekom Srbija and United Group executives talked about replacing United Media’s director

The CEOs of Telekom Srbija and Netherlands-based United Group discussed strategies to weaken a broadcaster that has provided a platform for opposition voices amid mass protests against the Serbian government, according to a leaked audio recording.

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

In one conversation earlier this month, the two CEOs discussed plans to remove Aleksandra Subotić as chief executive of United Media, a subsidiary of United Group that owns several Serbian outlets, including the TV station N1. 

OCCRP and KRIK have now obtained a recording of that conversation.

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

Several pro-government media attacked the story published by OCCRP and KRIK this week, claiming the reporting was false. 

However, the audio recording corroborates other evidence that the CEOs discussed ousting Subotić, both during that conversation and at an earlier in-person meeting in Serbia’s capital, Belgrade.

“I cannot fire Alexandra today, as we discussed, okay? I need to make that company very small in Serbia, if you understand what I mean, and separate it,” Miller is heard telling Lučić.

Lučić told Miller that Vučić had already spoken about Subotić’s dismissal with Nikos Stathopoulos, chairman of BC Partners, the British private equity firm that owns the majority of United Group.

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

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

Stathopoulos did not respond to a request for comment. A BC Partners spokesperson requested a copy of the recording of the conversation between Lučić and Miller, but did not provide further comment. 

BC Partners had previously told reporters in an emailed statement that United Group “has never been, and will never be, unduly influenced by political pressure in any country in which it invests or operates,” adding: “United Media has always and will continue to guarantee the independence of its editorial and news staff.

A law firm representing Telekom Srbija did not provide comment on the conversation, but requested a copy of the recording. Lučić did not respond to a request for comment about the audio recording. He told reporters earlier that the conversation was about “technical and compliance-related issues.” He added at the time: “We do not involve ourselves in staffing decisions at other companies.”

N1 is United Group’s most influential Serbia media outlet. It has also become a thorn in the side of Vučić’s administration. The channel has investigated corruption, interviewed activists, and livestreamed protests where demonstrators faced off against riot police and violent, pro-government thugs. 

At the beginning of his recorded call with Lučić, Miller referred to the volatile situation, saying: “Serbia is exploding underneath our asses.”