Bosnian Serb parliament adopts telecom sell-off plan

The parliament of Bosnia's Serb Republic adopted on Wednesday a government plan for the sale of a 65 percent stake in the country's number two telecoms operator, Telekom Srpske.
The government has said it planned to publish an international tender soon after the parliament approved the sale of the stake for which it would not accept bids below 400 million euros ($511 million). It has said several major telecoms firms, including Telekom Austria and Telekom Srbija, have expressed an interest in Telekom Srpske.
Potential bidders must have 2005 revenues of at least 500 million euros and no fewer than 800,000 fixed-line and 1.5 million mobile subscribers. Telekom Srpske controls a 35 percent market share in both fixed and mobile telephony in the Balkan country of close to 4 million people.