Yesterday, CEETV received a press release from Mr. Dragan Šolak's office which we publish in full below:

United Group founder Dragan Šolak has asked the Dutch Enterprise Chamber of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal to launch an investigation into a “serious governance crisis” at the company he started 25 years ago.

In a lawsuit against United Group, Šolak declares that he and CEO Victoriya Boklag were dismissed suddenly last week as an act of “revenge” for taking earlier legal action in London against United Group’s holding company for non-payment of bonuses due under a duly signed contract.

The decision by BC Partners, a London-based private equity fund and majority owner of United Group’s holding company, to remove Šolak and Boklag unilaterally and without notice breached principles of corporate governance under Dutch law and has immediate and long-term adverse consequences for the viability and management of United Group and its stakeholders.

Mr. Šolak and Ms. Boklag, who are significant minority shareholders, were dismissed on 16 June 2025 after spending 25 years transforming United Group from a small cable company in Serbia into the largest media and telecoms operator in Southeast Europe with annual revenues of EUR 3bn.

Earlier this year, in April, Mr. Šolak was forced to launch legal action at the High Court in London against United Group’s holding company Summer Parent after BC Partners refused to pay out EUR 200m in performance payments due to him and members of the management team for the EUR 1.5bn agreed sale of telco subsidiaries in Serbia.

BC Partners this month rejected a management buyout offer that would give them 2.6x gross money-on-money and 2.5x net money-on-money returns which, with a possible earn-out, could make them triple their investment in United Group.

The level of management buyout that was declined as insufficient by BC Partners demonstrates the level of success achieved during Ms Boklag and Mr Šolak’s management tenure and will serve as a benchmark against which minority shareholders will evaluate the future success and efficiency of the new managers.

Today’s claim in Amsterdam outlines serious concerns and reasons to doubt the current proper management of United Group. With this decision, BC Partners bypasses a significant minority shareholder, effectively punishing minority shareholders for demanding the payment of a bonus that was legally due.

United Group and Summer Parent are also unjustifiably delaying the pre-agreed distribution of dividend, which was scheduled to take place shortly after closing the sale of United Group’s Serbian telco business on April 2, 2025. Since that date, over EUR 1.1bn in cash is idling in United Group’s accounts.

Based on the initiated inquiry proceedings, the Enterprise Chamber has been asked to appoint an investigator to examine the relevant affairs of United Group. Additionally, a request for immediate relief has been submitted. If accepted, this could freeze the situation regarding the leadership change at United Group.

Mr. Šolak said: “BC Partners’s unilateral decision to impose new leadership, suddenly and without notice to staff or shareholders, on a highly complex business operating across multiple jurisdictions is in breach of Dutch law and puts United Group’s future and value in jeopardy.

“We have reasonable doubts whether the newly appointed management will be able to run United Group for the benefit of all stakeholders and produce results similar to ours. We will be monitoring the performance of the new management team very closely and will fight for our rights and the preservation of the value of our equity.

“Since BC Partners bought a majority stake in the company in 2019, the United Group management team has delivered exceptional performance and outstanding results, quadrupling the size of the business into an EUR 3bn revenue company.

“The behavior of BC Partners signals a complete disregard for the achievements and rights of the management team that owns more than 42 per cent of the business.

“Their actions in regards to United Group demonstrate to financial markets, the investment community and business founders around the world that BC Partners is a company willing to use any means possible to oust a founder partner to risk it all for even higher profits.

“Our rejected management buyout offer, which could have made them triple their investment in United Group, demonstrates our success to date and will serve as a benchmark against which the new management’s performance in delivering shareholder value will be judged.”

Highlighting the achievements of United Group since it was founded in 2000, Mr. Šolak added: “I built United Group from scratch. Together with Victoriya and our team, we grew a business group that today generates billions of Euros in revenue, provides a full suite of telecom and media services to millions of customers across multiple countries, and employs over 13.000 people.

“It is a unique telco and media ecosystem, based on highly proprietary solutions and systems. We have managed to attract exceptional talent from the region and beyond to form a company that innovates and builds outstanding solutions, products and brands utilizing the groups’ scale to drive efficiency and cost optimization.

“Combined with impeccable local delivery by great local CEOs, United Group was able to successfully compete with many much larger groups and outperform them in many markets.

“United Group suggested last week in their announcement of our dismissal that the new leadership team would deliver a new strategic re-focus of the business on the EU. Yet Victoriya and I were the ones who have already delivered that strategy, transforming the company from a small cable company in Serbia into the largest telecom operator in Southeastern Europe that today generates more than 90 per cent of its revenue in the EU.”