Announcement No.31

NO RESPONSE TO ANEM

Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) informs the public that, regardless to its numerous attempts, it did not manage to have any contact with or to receive any response from authorities concerning open issues related to participation of ANEM affiliates in the Public Bid of Yugoslav Ministry of Telecommunication.

ANEM wanted to have many disputable issues clarified and addressed all relevant federal and republic state organs, particularly Yugoslav Ministry of Telecommunication and Yugoslav Secretariat for Information. However, it seems that, besides ungounded accusations, neither Mr.Dojcilo Radojevic nor Mr.Goran Matic found it necessary to talk to ANEM delegation, not to answer any open questions sent by radio and TV stations - affiliates of ANEM. This "closed and secret" way of work and decision-making of relevant federal organs is directly motivated by wish to give ANEM as little information as possible and thus make grant of temporary licences to ANEM members more difficult or even impossible.

ANEM stresses that certain number of its members still have not been officially informed about their submitted demands, so those members intend to start legal procedure about it. These stations are: Globus from Kraljevo, City Radio from Nis, Radio B92 from Belgrade (related to demands for another radio frequency and satellite channel), as well as RTV Trstenik (related to demand for grant of radio frequency). Aforementioned stations will try once again, on Wednesday, June 24, 1998, at Ministry of Telecommunication, to get information about the fate of their official demands.

Although ANEM and its members officially demanded it, Ministry of Telecommunication did not respond to demand that public should have access to documentation originally submitted by stations which were later granted licences in so called "first round" of decision-making, so the publicity of Ministry's work is peovided as well as equal treatment of all stations that participated and submitted demands.

Many members of ANEM have problems in delivering additionally required documentation within given deadline of 30 days, due to slow and obstructive work of other relevant state organs which are supposed to issue necessary documents (in most cases construction licences, which are to be issued by relevant local municipal or city government organs). Therefore those stations had to demand prolonged deadline from the Ministry, but it is still unclear how the Ministry would react to this.

Certain number of ANEM affiliates managed to provide necessary additional documentation and to send it to Ministry of Telecommunication, but the Ministry up to this day had not given any official information about renewed decision-making within so called "second round" of the Public Bid (ANEM supposes it means next 60 days after expiration of additional 30-days long deadline from the day when the individual information from the Ministry about the missing documentation arrived in particular station). ANEM stresses that no one of its members from the short list of those which were granted licences has been called to sign Contract on Grant of Licence nor has received any information from the Ministry. Contracts, imposed by the Ministry, define prior obligation of payment of monthly fee for issue of temporary licence, although ANEM had submitted a legal initiative to Yugoslav Constitutional Court for abolition of these fees and demanded suspension of payments until definite decision of this Court has been reached. Constitutional Court did not release or send any information related to this demand. This kind of inappropriate behaviour of Ministry of Telecommunication, other state organs and their officials towards ANEM and its members is nothing new. If the aim of such behaviour is to discourage people from our association, we have to say that relevant state organs are mistaken, because ANEM will, in spite of all this, continue to do everything in its power to help its affiliates get valid temporary licences under economically acceptable conditions.

Belgrade, June 23, 1998

Veran Matic Chairman of the Association

 -- Veran Matic, Editor in Chief tel: +381-11-322-9109 Radio B92, Belgrade, Yugoslavia fax: +381-11-322-4378

Radio B92 Official Web Site --- http://www.opennet.org/

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