Sunday, 26 December 2010 

http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/17196/45/

With the arrest of Velija Ramkovski, the owner of A1, the cycle is completed. Now all ex Yugoslav media tycoons have been arrested and charged in one way or another. What brings them all together is the fact they all believed were above the law in their respective countries.

Each Ex Yugoslav media tycoon was involved in similar if not the same criminal activities. None of them paid taxes to the state, money laundering via chain of companies headed by friends and family members...

BK and Bogoljub Karikj. The owner of BK TV was arrested and charged with money laundering exceeding 60 million euros. The chain involved Bogoljub Karikj, his brother and thirteen others. BK defrauded Mobtel and the Serbian Public Revenue Service by siphoning money from the mobile operator though the use of its board of directors and bribing most of the court system. Once the police was able to get on BK's trail, the TV station similarly to A1 accused the Government's action as a blow against democracy in Serbia.

Radoslav Radoikj. The owner of Kurir and creator of Glas Javnosti. One more case in Serbia where the owner of a medium was proven to be involved in money laundering. Just like BK TV and A1 TV, Radoikj created numerous companies as a cover. Similarly to Velija Ramkovski, Radoikj put all of his relatives in charge of at least nine companies some registered in Serbia, some abroad. The financial police was able to prove Radoikj owes over 2 million euros in unpaid taxes through a shadow company called ABC Product.

Following the same logic previously run by others media tycoons, Radoikj instructed his printed media to defend him as well as attack the Serb Government for being against him because he was critical of the Government. 

Croatia's Robert Jezikj, owner of Novi List and DIOKE Group was involved in money laundering as well, accused by the country's officials for unpaid taxes amounting 1 million euros. Robert Jezikj apart from money laundering and unpaid taxes was also accused of receiving much cheaper utilities than everyone else.

Macedonia's Velija Ramkovski is accused and even convicted, however for years, due to the corruption of the (Higher) Court System he never repaid what the Courts ordered nor was he ever imprisoned. The Government has pressed numerous charges against A1's owner including, but not limited to owing 4.5 million euros in unpaid taxes, unpaid utilities for dozens of companies since 1997, unlicensed food and chemical production etc. Just as the owners of BK TV in Serbia, Ramkovski instructed his station to campaign and present his recent arrest as an "attack of media freedom".

The only thing the former Yugoslav tycoons have in common is that the facts are against them, and none of them are above the law, despite them being convinced for years that they were.