Alpak Capital owner registered as director of Adria News Network; editors replaced

Pedro Vargas Santos David has been registered today as director of the independent outlets that make up Adria News Network (ANN), marking a formal change in the management of several Serbian media brands including N1, Nova, Danas and Radar.

According to entries in the Business Registers Agency, the registration decisions naming the owner of Alpak Capital as director were adopted today, 17.8.2026.

Shortly after the registration, several senior editors and managers were replaced: Mihailo Jovićević was removed from his posts at the Nova portal and newspaper and at the weekly Radar; Aleksandra Mitić ceased to be director of Dan Graf, the publisher of Danas; Brent Sadler was removed as director of Adria News (N1) and from the position he had recently assumed at Adria News Nova S; and Janez Živko was also replaced as director of Nova S television.

Editorial statement and immediate reactions

The newsroom issued a statement stressing continuity: "On the occasion of this news, we note that the takeover process of Adria News Network continues in accordance with previously announced plans, and the change of ownership will not affect the editorial policy of TV N1, nor the way our newsroom makes editorial decisions. The editorial team of N1 continues to work according to the same professional principles and standards as before. The editorial team retains full responsibility for the choice of topics, reporting methods and editorial decisions in the public interest," the statement said.

Trade unions representing staff at Nova and Radar, the N1 union and Forbes condemned how the Portuguese company Alpak Capital carried out the takeover. "This was done in the middle of summer holidays, without any notification to the employees, which caused even greater concern. The fact that Pedro Vargas is registered as the new director is particularly worrying, while the company 'United Fiber Sarl', which operates or has operated within the United Group, remains the owner," the unions said.

The unions argued the move appears rushed and possibly undertaken before all necessary approvals and consents from relevant institutions were obtained, and that, with backing from BC Partners (a co-owner of United Group), Alpak Capital has already begun replacing top editorial staff. "Journalists from our media suspect that things will not stop here and that they will continue with changes of editors, with the intention of aligning the remaining independent and professional media with the wishes of the current regime," the unions warned.

Union representatives urged immediate talks and protections for editorial independence. "It is a fact that no move taken so far by the management of Adria News Network inspires confidence that this is undertaken with good intentions. Therefore we tell the new owner and the management that media are not just business; they are, above all, accountable to the public and the public interest, and only afterwards to ownership structures. And the public is the one that will judge," they said. "We have withstood all pressures, attacks, verbal and physical, and we will continue to resist. Therefore, we demand from the new director an urgent meeting with representatives of the representative unions and a written guarantee that the editorial policy and the positions of editors and journalists will not be affected," the joint statement concluded.

Photo: Printskrin od objava na srpskiot medium N1