Politika officially printed by another printing house – Oldest daily newspaper in Balkans changes its format after several decades

The daily newspaper Politika, which has been printed in its own printing house for decades, has officially, as eKapija recently announced, moved to another printing house - APM print. In addition to this change, there has been another change that is even more important when it comes to the Politika brand itself - the oldest daily newspaper in the Balkans has also changed its format, so Politika is now even bigger than it was, which confirms recent statements by some Politika employees, namely, that this newspaper will no longer be published in the format that has been recognizable for decades, which was also something that eKapija was first to write about.

According to the Journalists’ Association of Serbia (UNS), the Politika printing house (Politika stamparija) has enough paper for a few more days, after which it will cease operations.

– We would like to inform you that, due to technical problems with machinery and equipment, as well as a lack of raw materials (paper, ink, plates), Politika stamparija d.o.o. will cease operations on February 5, 2025 – says a letter that a local newspaper, which was printed in Politika’s printing house until a few days ago, received on February 3, and which UNS has had access to.

A colleague who wished to remain anonymous, whose newspaper has been printed in Politika in recent years, says that the short deadline that the publishers were given to get things done was a shock and a “very unpleasant surprise.”

– From Monday to Wednesday, we were practically in the editorial office day and night, worrying whether we would manage to get things done on time. Fortunately, we did – he said, as announced by UNS.

On the other hand, as stated by this association, what can be seen is that the TV revija supplement, which was published this Friday with Politika, was printed by Politika stamparija d.o.o. and Politika AD.

According to information obtained by UNS, Sportski zurnal was also printed in Politika’s printing house.

– The printing house has not yet been completely shut down. There may be enough paper for another few days. It has not been shut down, but it will be in a few days – a source from the printing house who wished to remain anonymous told UNS.

Politika’s new owner Boban Rajic told UNS that the printing house is working.

– The printing house has not been shut down. We are now a private company and where we will print the newspaper Politika is solely our decision, in accordance with where we get the best conditions – said Rajic.

When asked why the Politika daily has changed its format, Rajic says that in this case too, the company is free to choose the format in which the newspaper will be published.

Let us remind that, as eKapija recently wrote, some employees at Politika indicated that a change in the format of Politika was inevitable because the printing house where Politika would be printed in the future did not support its current format.

Rajic did not want to answer further questions from UNS, such as the fate of the employees in the printing house and which newspapers are still printed in “Politika” if it has not ceased operations.

As UNS reminds, the company APM print from Belgrade now prints all national newspapers. UNS did not receive an answer to the question whether other, local newspapers, from the Politika printing house have also been transferred to them since Wednesday.

When it comes to publishing and deadlines for folding and printing, according to eKapija’s unofficial information from this media house, due to the change in the printing house, they are now shorter than when Politika was printed in the parent printing house. At the end of January, some employees of Politika stated that they were told that the printing of the newspaper would be transferred to another printing house from March and that Politika in Krnjaca would be closed. In the meantime, apparently, the deadline for moving to another printing house has been shortened, so, as we have learned, the editorial board and journalists of Politika have been adapting to the changes on the fly when it comes to earlier preparation of an edition and earlier text wrapping.

Let us remind that, according to unofficial information that eKapija also got from Politika, about 60 employees will be left without jobs at the printing house if something does not change at the last minute.

Let us also remind that, on the day when it was announced that Politika was changing its printing house after several decades, it was also announced that Politika NIM is officially 100% owned by Boban Rajic, who had previously also bought the building where Politika is located – which also used to be Politika’s, but then this media house lost it due to banking debts.

D. Aleksic

Politika novine i magazini Beograd

Politika štamparija d.o.o. Beograd

Apm Print Beograd

Boban Rajić

Politika

Sportski žurnal