BELGRADE – Serbian daily and web portal critical of the government, Nova, has been at the center of managerial shifts and an employee protest this week. Following the dismissal of the former editor-in-chief, the new owner of the media outlet announced his successor, a decision which sparked resistance from the staff.
On 8 October, Pedro Vargas Santos David, owner of Alpac Capital, which acquired Nova and other media outlets in Serbia earlier this year, introduced employees and journalists to the future editor-in-chief Marko Stjepanović, former editor-in-chief of Blic portal, and his future deputy Ivana Mastilović Jasnić, who also comes from Blic, a pro-government outlet in Serbia.
According to the article published on Nova website, the owner of Alpac Capital invited employees to cooperate, pointing out that Stjepanović and Mastilović Jasnić would lead the editorial staff, and that journalists would work freely.
“He stressed that we should not be pro-regime or pro-opposition in our work, and that the changes occurred due to a large financial loss”, the article notes.
Marko Stjepanović also addressed the employees. He said that everyone was entitled to their own opinion, asked them to wait, and stated that he would prove everything through his actions.
Ratko Femić, deputy editor-in-chief of Nova, said that the vast majority of employees opposed cooperating with Marko Stjepanović and that no one supported his arrival in an anonymous poll.
Vargas David was also asked to hold off on the managerial changes until the upcoming parliamentary election in Serbia on 25 October is over, but he stated that appointing a new editor-in-chief was necessary because the position was currently vacant.
The employees stressed that until the end of all election cycles, i.e. by the end of the year, they do not want to cooperate with Stjepanović, and that after the elections take place, he should hold a meeting with journalists and editors, at which he would present plans for running Nova.
Employees believe that the transition of Stjepanović from Blic to the newsroom of Nova “in the middle of the election campaign” is not accidental and could weaken the critical approach of the newsroom and affect the way of reporting on election day.
Nova, together with other outlets including N1 and Danas, had previously operated under United Group and its media arm, United Media. In early 2026, confidentiality agreements were signed with Alpac Capital, a Portuguese investment fund led by Pedro Vargas David, to acquire the regional media portfolio for an estimated 30 million euros.
Although regulatory approvals from Luxembourg and legal obstacles in Montenegro (regarding TV Vijesti) remain pending or challenged, Alpac Capital’s leadership has already moved to occupy leading roles across the corporate entities running N1, Nova, Danas, and Radar.
Serbian journalists’ associations, opposition politicians, and civil society have expressed grave concerns that selling independent, critical media outlets to a fund perceived as close to regional ruling parties, specifically pointing to connections between Alpac Capital figures and political circles in Hungary and Serbia, would damage the already limited media pluralism.
