United Group has paid 100 million euros in taxes in the last two years and is one of the biggest fillers in Serbia's budget, United Media (UM) announced on the website of N1 TV.

"United Media was unpleasantly surprised by the reaction of some representatives of the executive and legislative authorities who, commenting on the fact that Dragan Šolak became the owner of the Southampton club, told numerous untruths about the company's business, one of the largest foreign investors in the country," UM said in a statement.

It is added that "the government, led by Prime Minister Ana Brnabic, immediately after publishing the information that the founder of the United Group took over 80% of the club's ownership from the Premier League, launched a shameful campaign against him and the company, deceiving the public by presenting a series of incorrect information."

Officials of the Serbian Progressive Party, on television nets with a national frequency and through tabloids, have repeatedly claimed that television channels operating within United Media do not respect the laws of the Republic of Serbia and do not pay taxes. The truth, which they know very well after a decade The United Group in Serbia has 2,750 employees who receive a regular salary every month, on which, in accordance with Serbian law, taxes and contributions are calculated and paid into the budget of the amount of almost 100 million euros, which makes it one of the biggest budget fillers", UM noted.

The campaign that is being conducted, they add, also testifies that the Serbian government is only declaratively in favor of the arrival of foreign investors, while in reality it only promotes those who are politically eligible.

"United Group members have invested 850 million euros in Serbia in the last 10 years, which makes the company one of the largest foreign investors. Despite that, our companies are constantly attacked by the Serbian government, which is trying to stop the development of operators and shut down independent media," they stated.

It is clear that the information provided by the representatives of the ruling party does not correspond to the truth, but only aims to discredit the media in order to create an atmosphere in the public that they are 'hostile' and work against the interests of citizens, ever to silence journalists who ask questions and who report on those things that the government does not want to report on," the statement added.

As they say, in order to understand the size and economic power of United Group, it should be borne in mind that doing business in Serbia is only 10 percent of the value of total business, which makes it "one of the largest companies in Southeast Europe and global investors, and whose business results have been confirmed by the largest auditing and consulting companies from the Big4 line".

"Instead of talking about our business, government officials can publicly answer why as much as 600 million euros of Serbian citizens were given to Telecom to buy the rights to broadcast the Premier League at a price several times higher than the most developed countries in the world. They are reminded of the violation of the law, to remind them that the state is obliged by law to withdraw from media ownership and not to open new channels, and that the state must be a guarantor of media freedoms, not to drive the biggest ones out of the country, considering them unsuitable, while on the other hand, it is consciously 'squinting' at certain violations of basic human rights", the UM statement concludes.

United Media is part of the United Group, which also includes N1 Television.