Telecom operator Tele2 retracted their 4.75 million kuna claim (€640,000) against newspaper retailer Tisak, which is part of the debt-ridden Agrokor group, Commercial Court in Zagreb announced on Thursday.

Tele2’s total claim against Tisak is 37.4 million kuna. The court ruling did not state the reason for retraction. Apart from Tele2, the other two telecoms in the country have also filed claims against Tisak, with Hrvatski Telekom (HT) claiming 50.8 million kuna, and VIPnet some 106 million kuna.

Their total claims against Tisak are almost 195 million kuna (€26.2 million). Meanwhile, newspaper publishers claimed some 32.6 million kuna from the company, which is the biggest newspaper retailer in Croatia.

Hanza Media, best known for publishing Jutarnji List daily and Globus weekly, claims 11.6 million kuna, followed by 24 Sata daily which claims 9.5 million kuna. Slobodna Dalmacija daily is owed 4.18 million kuna, while Glas Istre more than 2 million kuna, Novi List daily claims 1.82 million kuna, sports daily Sportske Novosti seeks 1.77 million kuna, and Glas Slavonije about 230,000 kuna.

Some publishers of defunct newspapers also have claims, with Arena claiming 230,000 kuna, and the Vjesnik printing company some 100,000 kuna.

The total claims of newspaper publishers against Tisak, according to data, are three times larger than operating profits posted by the two major publishers in Croatia, Styria and Hanza Media, in 2016.

(€1 = 7.44 Croatian kuna)