MACHINATIONS IN OFFSHORE FOG: Aleksandra Subotić central figure in Šolak’s dubious network of channelling millions from United Group into her own pocket
The current management crisis of United Group has brought to light many things that Dragan Šolak did behind the backs of United Group’s owners and partners. Kurir has repeatedly written about an entire hidden network of cash flows that obscured suspicious deals, acquisitions and all kinds of transactions with one goal, namely Šolak’s personal enrichment.
An important link in that chain was certainly Aleksandra Subotić, long-time director of United Media. Šolak not only assigned her to run his media machinery, but she also had levers with which she controlled the flow of money through offshore zones. That segment of her business was kept secret, but after the sale of SBB, the largest part of United Group, many things surfaced that undoubtedly show that Aleksandra Subotić, for her own or Šolak’s benefit, siphoned millions from United Group. This shattered the false image of her as a protector of free speech and independent journalism in Serbia, which the media under Šolak’s influence persistently promoted. It turned out that behind her every step, identically as in Šolak’s case, lay a clear motivation in vast sums of money and personal interest.
Panama and Malta
Kurir’s investigation reveals that Aleksandra Subotić is the controller of offshore companies in Panama and Malta and that her role coincides in time with her engagement in key media businesses. Corporate documentation shows that since 2013 she has held broad authority on the basis of power of attorney over the Panamanian company Benelux Inter Media S. A, as well as being the sole shareholder of two similarly named companies in Malta – Benelux Intermedia Holding Ltd and Benelux Intermedia Ltd.
The General Director of Telekom Srbija, Vladimir Lučić, went public with the information that Aleksandra Subotić, precisely through offshore structures in Malta and Panama, siphoned huge sums from Net TV, the company which the domestic operator acquired from United Group at the beginning of this year. Incidentally, Net TV is a provider of Serbian media content for the diaspora.
“When we took over Net TV, we found a fictitious contract under which a company owned by Aleksandra Subotić, who had firms in Panama and later transferred them to Malta, had in fact since 2013 been siphoning hundreds of thousands of euros and millions from the company Net TV,” Lučić recently stated.
On the basis of information so far, the assumption is that Subotić, while managing Net TV Plus, and later as director of United Media, arranged for her private offshore company to charge Net TV, i.e. United Group, for services or property that were either non-existent or overvalued.
“Payments under these contracts were practically siphoning cash out of United Group towards an entity she controlled. How much money exactly Subotić siphoned off through this scheme is not yet possible to establish, but one thing is certain – these transfers enabled individuals to enrich themselves to the detriment of the company’s balance sheet. Subotić used her dual role, as a manager with authority to spend and as the owner of an external supplier, to unlawfully redirect corporate funds,” emphasises Kurir’s source.
Financial reports
Kurir’s investigation has established that the official audited financial reports of United Media record significant write-offs and impairments on deals carried out during her management, which provide grounds for suspicion of financial irregularities. Particularly notable is the annual report of United Media s. a r. l. for 2024, in which a loss of €22.2 million is recorded on the basis of impairment of the investment (Direct Media, a company purchased at an unquestionably inflated price). These and many other deals reveal that Aleksandra Subotić’s term in office was fraught with problems in management and potential conflicts of interest.
The United Group Conflict of Interest Policy of 2023 defines a personal financial interest in a partner company as a serious conflict that must be reported. If Subotić’s offshore companies conducted business with United Group without reporting and oversight, this would represent a clear violation of that policy, but also of basic fiduciary duties. Analysis of available documentation makes it possible to assert with confidence that there is significant evidence of potential unreported transactions for personal gain and conflicts of interest connected with Subotić’s offshore entities.
According to our investigation, Subotić is directly connected with at least three offshore companies, all bearing the name Benelux Intermedia:
1. Benelux Inter Media S. A. (Panama) – founded on 12 March 2013 in Panama (reg. no. 797167). The official directors are professional nominal representatives, but on the day of its founding a decision was adopted granting Aleksandra Subotić broad general power of attorney to represent the company, which she actively used. Given the nominal directors and the later founding of similar companies under her ownership, it is highly likely that Subotić is the actual and sole owner of this Panamanian company.
2. Benelux Intermedia Holding Ltd (Malta) – a Maltese holding company (reg. no. C 95544), founded in May 2020. From August 2023 Aleksandra Subotić is recorded as the sole owner of all shares. The directors and secretary are Maltese professionals (Dr Jonathan de Giovanni and Dr Claire M. Calleja Zamit), which indicates the use of local corporate service providers.
3. Benelux Intermedia Ltd (Malta) – a Maltese subsidiary (reg. no. C 95832), founded in June 2020. This company is wholly owned by the aforementioned holding Ltd, which in practice means that Subotić is the ultimate owner through that structure.
Personal network
“These offshore companies are clearly part of Subotić’s personal corporate network formed during and after her move into United Group’s management. The timeline is worth noting. The Panamanian company was founded at the beginning of 2013, a few months before Subotić left Net TV Plus, which was in August that year. That was also about a year before she became director of United Media. The Maltese companies were formed in 2020, during her term in office, and in 2023 passed directly into her name. This intertwining reveals a lot,” explains our well-informed source.
It is also interesting that our discovery shows the founding of Benelux Inter Media S. A. was coordinated by Serbian lawyer Radovan Lalin.
“The same man, that is, his law office, organised the formation of offshore companies both for Subotić and for her former partner Danijel Rokvić. According to leaked data, Lalin engaged the Panamanian firm Aleman, Cordero, Galindo & Lee to establish Benelux Inter Media S. A. for Subotić, and at the same time to establish Wnet Media S. A. for Rokvić.
This parallel reveals a broader pattern among people from United Group in using offshores, and suggests that Aleksandra Subotić’s Panamanian company was not an isolated personal initiative, but part of a wider strategy of holding assets or conducting business outside the group’s official corporate structure,” our source notes.
