VILNIUS - The publisher of the Respublika tabloid has won the auction for a significant stake in the Elta news agency, offering nearly 2 million euros and outbidding majority owner MG Baltic.
Respublikos Investicija, a subsidiary of the Respublika Group, which is led by the scandalous Vitas Tomkus, won the 39.51 percent stake by bidding 6.66 million litas (1.93 million euros), well over the starting price of 2 million litas.
MG Baltic, the multi-profile conglomerate that owns 50.86 percent in Elta, a leading name in regional news agency industry, bid only 2.26 million litas for the stake. A third, unknown bidder, also participated in the auction.
Romas Bubnelis, CEO of Vakaro Zinios, a controversial tabloid, told the Baltic News Service, "To have ELTA would be advantageous for our work."
Respublika is a bi-lingual paper made infamous for publishing a series of anti-Semitic articles last year. (See story on Page 4.)
Last week a Vilnius court found Tomkus, who wrote the articles, guilty of instigating ethnic and religious enmity by publishing the articles, which included a caricature of a Jew and a gay and suggesting these two groups controlled the world, and imposed a fine of 3,000 litas.
Elta owns a 1,490 square meter building on Gedimino Avenue, Vilnius' central thoroughfare, and has leased a part to MG Baltic Investment, which has opened a hotel and a casino on the premises.
The agency's net earnings amounted to 300,000 litas in 2004, a drastic fall compared with 2003. Annual revenues declined by 19.2 percent year-on-year to reach 2.4 million litas.
The news agency, which employs a workforce of about 50, is projecting revenues of 2.6 million litas for 2005 and is hoping to see profits.
For Respublika, the victory represents a turn of fortunes after last week's court case and a dramatic foray into the nation's media market, which is dominated by MG Baltic and the Achema Group, which holds a 6.75 percent stake in Elta.
The Respublika Group reported sales of 68.9 million litas for 2004, a rise of 18.6 percent from the 2003 figure. It is second behind Lietuvos Rytas, the country's leading daily, on the advertising market.
