The concessionaire claims that there is a risk of arbitration regarding the Brskovo mine, the Protector states that there is no such thing in the contract

The lawyer of the concessionaire "Tara resources" Luka Popović, the company that seeks geological research and ore exploitation in the Brskovo mine, said that one of the options in case of disagreement with the state is investment arbitration against Montenegro. He clarified that they have the right to do so according to international conventions.

This could be heard at the session of the Interdepartmental working group for the preparation of an expert analysis of the contract on the concession and opening of the Brskovo mine. This group was formed by the Minister of Energy and Mining, Saša Mujović, and it has 30 days to submit a recommendation to the Government.

Slavica Laković, deputy from the office of the state protector of property and legal relations, stated that arbitration is not provided for in the contract, but that these are their rights that the state can exercise.

Popović stated that the investor is a Swiss company, which bought the company "Brskovo mine" which has a concession, which was done with the prior consent of the Government. He clarified that there is a bilateral agreement between Montenegro and Switzerland on the mutual protection of investments (BIT), according to which the investor has the right to arbitration.

The mine was given under concession in 2010, and since then the concessionaire has changed several owners. I changed the basic contract six times with annexes, where deadlines for fulfilling certain obligations were extended. Geological research was supposed to be completed in four years and continued into 2020.

Member of the Mojkovac Municipal Assembly Miloš Rajković said that the concessionaire threatens with arbitration but at the same time does not respect the laws of the state. He stated that according to the contract, only the Basic Court in Podgorica is competent.

"The fact that you tasked the German ambassador, Peter Felten, to go from institution to institution, even with a broken leg, and to lobby for you and your projects, will not pass. The struggle of the citizens of Mojkovac and the intellectual public will be persistent and we will win," said Rajković.

The topic of the session was environmental protection and the impact of mines on it. The concessionaire's lawyer, Popović, emphasized that the current assessments of the impact on human health are without documentation because the main project, study and assessment have not been completed, as well as that these are assumptions.

Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Milan Gazdić said that there is a high concentration of mercury in the land of Brskov. He pointed out that the environment in Mojkovac is already polluted. He added that according to the data, the permitted concentration is 1,5 grams per ton, and that in this case we have 31 grams for the same amount.

He claims that the concentration of mercury in this mine is 20 times higher and that its use, deposit and sale are prohibited.

Popović pointed out that it refers to the production process, which is not the case in this case. He stated that the concentrations after processing will be below the required thresholds and that this measure is applied in such a way that no mine in Europe would operate.

Engineer Darko Božović explained that these substances in the ore state are not dangerous, but they can be after extraction and processing. As he said, the problem is during flotation, where certain minerals are separated. He said that a mining project is necessary to determine the concentration. He stated that mercury occurs in 90 percent of mines.

The representative of the concessionaire, Zoran Arsenijević, added that the concern is justified, but that legal procedures must be followed, and that the amount of remaining minerals will be known after the mining project is drawn up. He said that the information about the pollution is not correct, because there are no documents to confirm it yet.

"The concessionaire has come to the conclusion that he will be able to fulfill the laws and regulations of Montenegro," he pointed out.

Labor member Miodrag Fuštić from the civic initiative "For a healthy Mojkovac" pointed out that the process was illegal until now and that former Prime Minister Dritan Abazović and former Minister of Ecology Ana Novaković Đurović made the project possible.

Ivana Joksimović from the Institute for Public Health pointed out that it would be problematic if mercury were to be found in the food chain, and that there is already an increase in some harmful substances in this area.

Councilor Rajković added that the opening of the mine will damage the health of the citizens and the economy in Mojkovac, and that the waste will not be remedied for the next 100 years.

The next session of the Working Group is scheduled for Monday, February 12, and at the request of the EPA director, the planner Aleksandra Tošić Jokić will attend it.