Serbs Take Over Belgrade Unit of U.S. Drug Firm

Armed Serbian police Saturday seized the Belgrade unit of U.S. drug firm ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc., owned by a political foe of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, in a move company officials described as an attempt to disrupt peace talks on Kosovo.

Milan Panic, chairman and chief executive of Costa Mesa-based ICN, said the action was the latest in a series of measures by the Yugoslav authorities to stir up anti-Western sentiment as the big-power-sponsored talks got underway near Paris.

“The latest act . . . was the attempt to steal American property and confiscate ICN Pharmaceuticals,” Panic, a naturalized American and former Yugoslav prime minister, told journalists in Vienna after meeting Austrian political and business leaders.

“This is not a coincidence. It is very typical of the negotiating technique of the Serbian government . . . to show they are capable of standing up to the international community.”

Company officials said heavily armed police broke through the main gate of the complex on the northern outskirts of Belgrade early Saturday and within two hours had installed new managers.

Serbia’s deputy health minister, Marija Krstajic, took over as the new general manager, ICN sources said.

About 20 ICN staff members were in the building at the time. Panic said nobody was injured.

The Yugoslav Health Ministry, reportedly acting on a Serbian court decision, announced Friday that Panic no longer owned a majority of the company but was being given a 35.7% interest, with the state taking the rest.

The seizure appeared aimed at weakening Panic while setting the groundwork for declaring void a state debt equaling $180 million. The state health network ran up the debt to the company over the last decade.

The move was similar to government actions taken against several media outlets in the past after they became overtly critical of Milosevic. Ownership of the organizations was effectively transferred to the state.