Battle for "Borba"

The Belgrade daily Borba has not been spared the recent struggle between the owners and the journalists and the TV saw it fit to carry the stormy sessions of the political daily's Managerial Board.

As is well known, "Borba" is a joint-stock company and no-one owns the majority of shares (over 50%). Although the identity of the share-holders is a business secret, VREME has learned that the firm "Finagra" is the most powerful share-holder, owning over one-third of the shares. The other major share-holders are the Federal Government (with 17%), Borba's employees (9%) "C market", the Trgovacka bank and others. Of course, the level of involvement in decision-making is proportionate to the owned shares, and this was the criterion upon which the members of the Managerial Board were chosen. Unfortunately, the members of the Managerial Board have been forbidden to give statements to the press until the current dispute is resolved, so that the only available information can be obtained from the daily's editorial staff. The Managerial Board merely offered assurances that Borba's editorial policy will not be altered.

The Editorial Board and most of the journalists believe the problem arose this spring, when the post of Director became vacant. Branislav Milosevic, a journalist, former Republican minister and former leader of the Belgrade Reformists, and Slobodan Mrvaljevic, a political scientist, applied for the job.

Milosevic enjoyed the strong support of the "Finagra" members of the Managerial Board. The Managerial Board asked the staff for its opinion about the applicants. The opinion of the editorial staff is not crucial in decision-making, but it bears a lot of significance since the Managerial Board had earlier decided it would consult the employees about the candidates for key posts and would not impose upon them candidates they did not want. The employees rejected the proposed applicants in public voting: Milosevic won one vote, one voter abstained, all the others were against him. Mrvaljevic was also rejected.

VREME learned that the editorial staff insisted that the new Borba Director be either a manager, or an economist, or a financial expert, which Milosevic is not. Also, the daily's employees did not want the post to be filled by a former or current politician. The employees voted again - a third candidate, Borba's Financial Manager Zoran Vukicevic, now joined the race. They again rejected Milosevic, but the other two candidates did not win much more support either.

Of course, the only role of the mentioned voting is to illustrate the staff's stand, although the decisions are reached by the Managerial Board. On the eve of the June 22 session of the Managerial Board, Borba's Editor-in-Chief Manojlo Vukotic called an editorial meeting in reaction to rumours aimed at disparaging him; he criticised the Managerial Board for failing to convene despite Borba's two-month-long financial difficulties and asked

the staff to secretly vote on confidence in him and the daily's editorial policy. Over 130 people supported Vukotic, around 20 voted against him.

The Managerial Board session was attended by Dusan Mijic, the man standing behind "Finagra" and probably the owner of its shares in "Borba". Just before the meeting, the Federal Government representative in the Managerial Board said in the presence of several journalists that he would back all Mijic's proposals (the votes of "Finagra" and the Federal Government together make up the absolute majority and are thus sufficient for the adoption of any decision). At the meeting, Mijic said that Branislav Milosevic was withdrawing his application for the post of Director. Zoran Vukicevic was supported by only 6 members of the Managerial Board, and, what is curious, he was not backed by the two Borba members of the Board, although the editorial office had told them to. The then Acting Director, lawyer Branislav Tapuskovic, resigned. Dusan Mijic took the place of a "Finagra" member of the Board (a legal move), ran for Acting Director and obtained the post thanks to the votes of the "Finagra" and Federal Government representatives.

At the same Managerial Board meeting, Mijic demanded that the agenda include a discussion whether the Editor-in-Chief exceeded his powers. Mijic was again supported by the Federal Government, but not by the other share-holders (Chairman of the Managerial Board and Director of "C market" Slobodan Radulovic, Director of Trgovacka bank and Chairman of the Borba share-holders' convention Mirko Piljak and some others), while Gordana Logar, Borba's representative, said Borba was threatened by nationalisation. The session ended and another was scheduled for June 29 - one of the items on the agenda was "The implementation of the editorial

policy and the powers of the Editor-in-Chief."

This session was carried by the TV. Meanwhile, a group of share-holders had requested the postponement of the session so it could read the material (Manojlo Vukotic's report on the implementation of the editorial policy), but without success. Slobodan Radulovic was not present at the meeting and it is still uncertain whether he has resigned as Chairman of the Managerial Board. The above-mentioned item on the agenda was rephrased at Dusan Mijic's initiative, who was again backed by the Federal Government members of the Board, so that the next session will focus on confidence in the Editor-in-Chief. Attention should also be drawn to the fact that Branislav Milosevic became a member of the Managerial Board as "Finagra's" representative. Borba employees now have two versions in explanation of the unusual alliance between "Finagra", a firm openly close to the liberal circles, and the Federal Government, ie, Information Minister Slobodan Ignjatovic.

Some claim that "Finagra" intends to sell its shares to the Government and let Borba go down the drain, while others think the two have formed a temporary alliance to oust Manojlo Vukotic, who allegedly suits neither.

Unfortunately, just as VREME was preparing to talk with Manojlo Vukotic, a memorandum by Acting Director Dusan Mijic arrived in his office, forbidding Borba's employees all contacts with the media. If they disobey, sanctions will be imposed against them, including the pink slip. The memo was soon Xeroxed and pasted all over Borba's premises. There is another message on the wall of Borba's desk: "First open your brain, then

your mouth". One cannot be certain about the brain, but in this case, the mouth is definitely shut.