Srbija

Telekom Srbija declined to make its executives available for comment, but in public statements, the company has described its investments in English soccer and elsewhere as driven by commercial concerns, not politics.

Top: a inside the Great Hall of the Palata Srbija building in Belgrade.

Keen to capitalize on the interest, Belgrade authorities are now considering opening parts of another masterpiece of Yugoslav brutalism - the Palata Srbija government building, which is currently only open once a year.

Despite interest in Eastern Europe, Garcia Moreno said the company had opted out of the coming privatization of Serbia's Telecom Srbija, for which bids were due by Aug. 2.

Telekom Austria's key conditions such as merger control clearance in Serbia and an agreement to address Telekom Srbija's costs structure within a pre-agreed time period remain in place, the company said.