Serbian PM says Deutsche Telekom submits non-binding offer for Telekom Srbija - report

A call for non-binding bids for state equity in Telekom Srbija, which employs over 9,000 people in Serbia, was issued last month. A total of eight offers were received before the bidding deadline expired on August 2. The next phase of the process is shortlisting the bidders that will advance to the subsequent stage of the process.

"We hope we will be able to complete the sale in five months," Handelsblatt quoted Vucic as saying in comments published on Wednesday.

The German company did not comment on the report when contacted by Handelsblatt.

Deutsche Telekom's Greek unit OTE held a 20% stake in Telekom Srbija before selling it in 2011 for nearly 400 million euro to pay down its debt.

Serbia's last attempt to shed its interest in the country's biggest telecoms company failed in 2011 when Telekom Austria's 1.1 billion euro offer for a 51% stake was rejected.

($=0.8767 euro)