July 17, 2017
Adria Media Group (AMG) announced on 7th July that the Tax Administration “for no legally valid reason” blocked all of this company’s bank accounts and threatened that the government of Aleksandar Vučić would “confiscate the property and take over the management of the company”.
The Tax Administration announced that it has blocked AMG’s accounts, but did not specify the amount of the tax debt. Tax Administration Director Dragana Marković noted that tax controls have been in this publishing house for a long time and that this is why it now has tax obligations.
At AMG they say that the company is unable to access its money and settle its obligations to suppliers, printers and workers.
The Tax Administration did not respond to journalists’ questions about why the accounts were blocked, despite the fact that AMG currently does not have tax debts, and did not list examples of other companies whose accounts have been blocked for the same reason.
The Association of Journalists of Serbia requested that the Tax Administration urgently address the public and explain its actions in relation to this media company.
AMG is the largest publishing company in Serbia, with its publications including tabloid Kurir, once the country’s highest circulating daily newspaper. This newspaper, known for its brutal violations of the Codex of Journalists and for openly supporting the authorities, recently became very critical of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić.
Since then it has itself been subjected to a brutal campaign of pro-government tabloids and one of the most popular television stations in the country, TV Pink.
