Hello

In my opinion the Serbian Government is worthy of praise for its sale of Serbian Telecom. The criticisms of this move are nit-picking. Perhaps Serbian telecommunications is worth more than the billion and a half German marks, but all merchandise is only worth as much as someone is willing to pay for it. In any case, only 49 percent of ownership was transferred, which still puts the foreign partners in a minority position. The calculation that Czechoslovakia fared better in their deal when telephone hookup is considered is questionable. Hypothetically, a nation with only one telephone would fare best, because potential hookups are also considered in this calculation. The absence of a public auction is a serious matter. There was, however, a public call for negotiations, and no other international telecommunications company responded, except for those that now figure in the deal. A government whose country is in a specific quarantine of its own could not achieve a better deal. I hope the reader understands that I do not give blind support to the way this money will be spent. The government’s ambition for get rich quick schemes is highly suspect, partly because of past experience, and partly because there is no government in existence which knows better how to manage money for profit than does a bank. I want to say something else: as soon as foreign capital appears here it will quickly become apparent that any politics which tries to exclude Serbia from the rest of the world will become impossible. To this extent, I think that the signature on this contract is more significant that the signature on the Dayton Agreement. There we only promised, while here we actually did something.