The Serbian government is clearly not that motivated to offload its majority stake in incumbent carrier Telekom Srbija, having turned down the only offer for a second time. Sole bidder Telekom Austria had even increased its bid for the 51 per cent stake, yet on Friday the government called off the whole deal.

Despite being the only interested party and having tabled an offer of €800 – 950m, Telekom Austria this week upped the ante to €1.1bn, having apparently been made aware of “additional value-enhancing elements.”

Yet Serbia was holding out for somewhere in the region of €1.4bn – a length TA wasn’t prepared to go to. So Serbia has refused the latest offer and called off the tender process.

In a statement TA lamented the opportunity for the Government of Serbia to enter into a “sustainable long term partnership,” with the Austrian firm claiming to be the biggest Greenfield investor in Serbia, via its mobile operation Vip.