TANJUG Awarded Twice As Much Public Funds in 2020 As Its Competitors Put Together

TANJUG building (BETAPHOTO/MILOS MISKOV/DR)

Last year, the TANJUG news agency was awarded five contracts, worth RSD7.7 million in total, by the Serbian government and public institutions, which is twice as much as BETA and Fonet news agencies, put together, got from the same sources.

According to the data from the Public Procurement Web Portal, reported by Nova.rs in the evening on April 25, BETA was awarded three contracts worth around RSD2.8 million, and Fonet one, worth around RSD850.000. TANJUG, on the other hand, signed two new contracts with the ministries since it has been leased for a 10 year period to the Tacno company.

“Thus, this April, the Serbian Ministry of Employment, Labor, Veteran and Social Policy closed a deal with [TANJUG], worth RSD1.19 million with VAT included. The same month, Tanjug won another tender with the Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure, worth RSD1.8 million with VAT included. As the Contract Award Decision states, in exchange for the funds, the ministry will receive news, photo and video services,” Nova.rs writes.

In the same period BETA was awarded three contracts. The news agency is currently negotiating a deal on its services with the Media Cooperation Office, which is worth around RSD700.000 without VAT.

In 2020, BETA signed two other contracts – one with the Ministry of Culture and Information (around RSD780.000) in August 2020, and another, with the Posta Srbije public company (RSD714.000 without VAT), in December 2020.

Fonet, on the other hand, was awarded only one contract in 2020, and that with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, worth around RSD845.000 with VAT.