Johannes Werner Krauss, the Austrian co-owner of Serbia’s defunct TV Avala station, has gone bankrupt.

The Vienna commercial court has opened bankruptcy proceedings against Johannes Werner Krauss, co-owner of Serbia’s former national broadcaster TV Avala.

According to a court statement that Balkan Insight has obtained, Krauss has gone bankrupt after becoming involved in illegal “currency exchange transactions with foreign partners.

“The debtor [Krauss] has unlawfully misused and lost clients’ money,” the statement said.

Krauss, who had a law firm in the centre of Vienna, has assets worth 1,437,548.11 euro while his liabilities and indebtedness exceed the amount. (liabilities – 2,757,621.63, indebtedness – 1,320,073.52).

Austrian police told BIRN that the lawyer had been interrogated but did not reveal more details.

According to the Serbian business registry, he owned 48.41 per cent of the now defunct broadcaster, which lost its broadcasting licence on October 26, 2012.

The Serbian broadcasting agency, RRA, said the broadcaster failed to pay fees to the agency and had failed to produce a programme scheme, as national broadcasters are obliged to do.

Avala obtained a national frequency in 2006. It faced financial problems for years. Staff were not paid for months before it closed and the station’s debts by 2010 amounted to €25.7 million.

Last week, the RRA received applications from two TV stations wishing to obtain Avala’s national licence. http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/tv-avala-owner-went-bankrupt

‘Such a funny guy’

The search for Avala’s owners begins with an old building on Führichgasse, a street in the centre of Vienna.

The building hosts the office of the lawyer, Johannes Werner Krauss. He is also the owner and sole employee of Greenberg Invest, a firm that is registered at the same address as his legal practice.

Since May 2010, this company has held a 48.4 per cent stake in Avala. Last year, the Anti-corruption Council, a government watchdog in Belgrade, released a report alleging that Greenberg was in fact a front for Zeljko Mitrovic, a Serbian media mogul. If true, this would mean Mitrovic had violated Serbian laws that aim to restrict the formation of monopolies in the media. The mogul, who has been nicknamed “the Murdoch of the Balkans”, already has full ownership of another channel with a nationwide license, TV Pink.

A law adopted in 2002 says the owner of a nationwide broadcaster cannot acquire a stake larger than five per cent in another such network. Since 2008, Mitrovic has also held a stake in Avala – but in accordance with the rules, it is capped at 4.95 per cent.

Avala TV could lose broadcasting license

03/02/2012

Due to unpaid wages since the summer and debts and fees that are piling up, Serbian broadcaster Avala TV could be reaching the end of its days.

By Bojana Milovanovic for Southeast European Times in Belgrade — 03/02/12

Workers have been protesting since December 22nd. [Avala TV]

Employees of Belgrade broadcaster Avala TV, a medium with national frequency, were prevented from entering the building by security guards this week after they threatened to shut the broadcaster down for unpaid wages.

The station paid out one month of wages to each employee on Monday (January 30th), but is still almost six months behind. Employees have been striking for more than 40 days.

The station has 168 employees: full-time workers were last paid in July, while part-timers have seen no payments since June.

During the strike, no news programmes or studio shows are being broadcast, only series and movies.

“We intend to make our protest more visible; we will go out onto the streets and file lawsuits over violated rights,” strikers’ representative Nikola Vukomanovic told SETimes.

He says the employees tried to talk with the employers a few months prior to the strike, which started December 22nd, but no action was taken……………………….

http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2012/02/03/feature-02