The Serbian government has received bids from six companies for its 58.1 per cent stake in Telekom Srbija, a Serbian telecommunications company headquartered in Belgrade.

According to Serbia's minister of trade, tourism and telecommunications Rasim Ljajic, the government aims to select  a preferred bidder in the next 7 days. He added that after the selection of the best bid the government will start an approximately 35-day negotiation period.

Last week Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said that the government expects an offer of €1.4 billion (US$1.48 billion) for its  58.1 per cent stake in the telecommunications company.

In August this year a total of 14 companies registered to take part in the biding process. The firms are the following: Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Advent International, Apollo Global Management, BC Partners, Colbeck Capital Management, CVC Capital Partners, Deutsche Telekom (DT), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Vivacom (registered as Bulgarian Telecommunications Company, BTC), Mid Europa Partners, Mobile TeleSystems (MTS), Novator Partners, Telekom Slovenije and Turkcell. Details about the six bidders have not been disclosed.

Telekom Srbija hosts around 4.8 million of Serbia's 10.3 million connections and has about 9,000 staff and together with its subsidiaries employs approximately 13,000 people.