What the United Media Services Company described a few days ago as mere rumors, has become a reality and in the words of the company itself, which is the media arm of the Egyptian regime, as it owns most of the media and is widely believed to be affiliated with the Egyptian intelligence.
At the beginning of last week, communication platforms were filled with news of the ouster of Tamer Morsi from the chairmanship of the company’s board of directors and his referral for investigation for causing great losses, but the company issued a statement last Monday saying that it “denies rumors raised on social media, and that it will take all legal measures. Necessary against those rumor mongers. “
Then
The council included, in addition to Tamer Morsi, 4 other members: the founder of MediaHub, Mohamed Al-Saadi, Amr El-Feki, President of the POD Company, which has the largest share in the Egyptian advertising market, and the former Minister of Investment, Ashraf Salman. And the economist Mohamed Samir.
Loss compensation
During yesterday’s meeting, it was remarkable that the company’s CEO, Hossam Saleh, revealed for the first time losses of nearly half a billion pounds (a dollar equals about 16 pounds) incurred by the company in 2016, but he also indicated that profits this year exceeded a quarter of a billion pounds.
Hossam Saleh also announced the company’s intention to cooperate during the next phase with local production companies to develop the drama, which was demanded by the production companies in light of complete control over the artistic production map in Egypt by the company “Synergy”, headed by Tamer Morsi, which is one of the The subsidiaries of the United Company.
Over the past week, social networking sites witnessed the circulation of news talking about investigations taking place within the United Media Services Company, due to a “suspicion of wasting public money,” and because of these violations, Tamer Morsi was removed from the presidency of the company.
The interesting thing is that the new president of the company, Hassan Abdullah, accused him by the governor of the Central Bank, Tariq Amer, of wasting 9.2 billion pounds, and using part of it to repay facilities and loans granted to them by the same bank, amounting to 2.8 billion pounds, and other banks worth 191 million pounds.
Tariq Amer’s accusations against Hassan Abdullah came after he was ousted from the management of the Arab African Bank, but these charges were not followed by any investigations or judicial accountability after that.
On the other hand, Hossam Saleh announced future plans, the most important of which is the launch of a regional Egyptian news channel that presents Egypt’s regional and local vision and puts this vision at the fore.
The channel is scheduled to appear in the first quarter of 2022, so that its target audience will be Egyptians, Arabs and Arabic speakers within the coverage of the Egyptian satellite “Nilesat”, as well as Arabic speakers in Europe, America, Canada and Australia through IPTV services. (IPTV).
The company announced its intention to offer 20-30% of its shares on the Egyptian Stock Exchange by 2024, which was interpreted by the former head of the Tax Authority, Ashraf El-Araby, in press statements, as a prelude to submitting the company and its subsidiaries to the Financial Supervisory Authority and obligating it to publish its budget and financial statements to public opinion.
Media dominance
The strength of the United Media Services Company lies in its dominance over most of the Egyptian media, from satellite channels, newspapers and news sites, production and distribution companies, radio stations, advertising companies, and even sports marketing and broadcasting rights, and other auxiliary companies.
Its strength also lies in the party behind it, which is the Egyptian General Intelligence Service, where the company is defined as being owned by the intelligence services, without an official announcement, but also without being denied by the sovereign apparatus.