United Group responds to Serbian “misinformation”
September 18, 2025
United Group has rejected “false and misleading claims” that the Group is seeking to curtail or otherwise compromise the editorial independence of N1 and Nova TV channels in Serbia, or sell them to Telekom Srbija or entities linked to the Serbian state. “These allegations are false,” the SE European bluntly stated.
The declaration comes after the Organised Crime and Reporting Project (OCCRP) reported on conversations between United Group CEO Stan Miller and Telekom Srbija CEO Vladimir Lučić regaridng the ousting of United Media CEO Aleksandra Subotić. United Media is a United Group subsidiary that owns N1.
In a statement outlining its editorial independence, United Group said:
United Group’s news businesses operate under a clear separation between commercial management and editorial decision making, and the company makes a clear distinction between editorial and executive staff. News independence is sacrosanct to the current management and the majority shareholder BC Partners, and will never be influenced by any political interference or considerations.
United Group is a commercial enterprise, focused on driving value creation across portfolio companies through sound and ethical business-driven decisions.
Editorial choices for N1 and Nova are taken by the editorial teams, not by United Group executives, and there has been no interference by current management. This is clearly demonstrated by recent news reporting at N1 and Nova, which has continued in an entirely independent manner.
What role the previous management played in influencing editorial decisions and news content to suit their own agenda remains an open question.
Some concerns have been raised by Telekom Srbija about the conduct of Aleksandra Subotić, who is not a member of the editorial staff at any United Group news organisation, and these are being investigated in line with our policies and procedures.
United Group and its majority shareholder, BC Partners, have been working on a model to secure and fortify the editorial independence of N1 and Nova news channels.
Measures under consideration include strengthened editorial charters, non-interference covenants, channel-level independence oversight, and an external ombudsperson function. In early July, two leading international advisers were engaged to support this work.
The objective is to ensure that editorial independence remains robust and insulated from non-business and political considerations.
The Group’s current management has never had any plans to sell its news assets to Telekom Srbija, or any other state-linked entity. The only discussions that have taken place involving the potential sale of N1 and Nova were held under the previous management.
Any such sale is clearly not aligned with the Group’s priority of safeguarding independence while enhancing resilience, efficiency and performance across portfolio companies.
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