The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will not give consent for the quarries of Krivošija, Ledenica and Stupna, which are located above Risno, until UNESCO issues an opinion in this regard.
This is what the Agency told "Vijesti" before holding another meeting of the Working Group, which was formed to review the reasons for and against the implementation of the contract, among other things, on the concession for stone quarries in the Bay of Kotor-Risan: That meeting, according to unofficial information , should be held today.
The Agency also said that "until recently, investors, as well as a good number of decision-makers, considered environmental approvals as a done deal" and that "in the future, environmental approvals will be no less important than all the others, which are necessary when it comes to the construction of any infrastructure." or that there are any space exploitation projects and the like".
In 2019, that is, in 2020, the then Ministry of Economy concluded concession contracts for the exploration and exploitation of mineral raw materials of technical-building stone in the concession areas "Ledenice", "Stupne" and "Krivošije Donje" with the companies "Braća Magud" from Grblje, "MIL -Com" from Nikšić and "Sanpetrol" from Tivat. The Ministry of Capital Investments (MKI) told "Vijesta" that all concessionaires have approved technical documentation, but they do not have approved reports on environmental impact assessment, which is the responsibility of the EPA.
The MKI also reminded that, based on the concession contract, the concessionaire is "obliged to pay the concession fee for the obtained right to exploit mineral raw materials in accordance with the law and the contract", that the concessionaires pay funds to the budget of the state of Montenegro in the amounts that are defined By contract and which differ from contract to contract. They also said that, of the total amount of the concession fee, 70 percent of the funds are paid into the budget of the local self-government, in this case the Municipality of Kotor, and the remaining 30 percent into the budget of Montenegro.
The Agency considers it problematic that concessions are charged from the moment the concession act is signed, "even though the concessionaire has not previously obtained all the necessary permits".
"Most of the environmental approvals that received a positive opinion from the Agency have been issued so far pro forma, while recently, with the arrival of new management, that practice was stopped, which caused anger among some investors who wanted their personal interest to be above nature and citizens", said the EPA.
As they told "Vijesta", the agency has repeatedly initiated changes to the decision on concession fees at the MKI, so that they start to be charged from the beginning of the exploitation of the space, "and not from the moment of signing the contract and before securing all the necessary consents, which was the case until now”.
"The relevant ministry does not 'go out to meet the concessionaires', but tries to implement the legal regulations and in this sense, a multidisciplinary working group was formed at the beginning of February 2023, one of the tasks of which is to, after the analysis, propose solutions for the situation in which obligations are coming to the concessionaires , and certain state institutions did not complete the procedures as requested by the concessionaire. Each of the aforementioned signatories of the concession contracts has approved technical documentation, but they do not yet have approved studies on environmental impact assessment. Consent to them is given by the Agency for Environmental Protection, and each of the concessionaires submitted their report to the Agency for consideration and approval", told "Vijesti" from the department of the minister in the technical mandate. Ervin Ibrahimović.
In relation to UNESCO, as they said, all legal procedures are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Culture and the Administration for the Protection of Cultural Properties, "from which the concessionaire received an answer to the submitted request confirming the above".
Out of several thousand issued permits and consents, our Agency only issued a negative opinion in a small percentage. It came back to us like a boomerang, small hydropower plants are an example: Dozens of studies signed by this Agency in the past period were put to act, and the projects were stopped, so in the future, environmental compliance will be no less important than all the others
The Agency said that the concessionaires approached them last year, submitting an environmental impact assessment report.
"Through a careful analysis, we noticed that the area of some quarries goes deep into the UNESCO buffer zone, which is considered vulnerable, and that investments in those localities could significantly affect the zone of the protected and UNESCO area itself. We remind the public that the Bay of Kotorska-Risan is on the list of endangered world heritage, that in recent years it has been significantly affected by uncontrolled urbanization and the issuing of certain permits that are not in accordance with the UNESCO convention," said the EPA.
As they said, for all three quarries, the Municipality of Kotor and the Administration for the Protection of Cultural Property have given consent that they will not negatively affect the UNESCO heritage.
"Although from the submitted studies, according to our Agency, it is clear that they can have a negative impact on the natural landscape values of the bay, both on land and at sea, and would threaten the UNESCO heritage status. All documentation related to quarries has been submitted to the UNESCO Secretariat, so in the coming period we expect them to be determined according to this very important issue. Until then, the Agency suspends the process of issuing environmental permits for those quarries. Quarries in the UNESCO heritage are not welcome, because they can significantly threaten the landscape values of the Bay of Kotor-Risan and the status of our country before UNESCO", said the EPA to "Vijesta".
The protector of property and legal relations, according to the documentation that "Vijesti" had access to, at the end of April submitted an opinion to Ibrahimović's department in which, among other things, he states that, in relation to the Law on the Protection of the Natural and Cultural-Historical Area of Kotor, it is necessary to accurately to determine that the deposits for exploitation are located in the zone, i.e. the boundaries as stated in the law.
"In order to clearly establish that the opinion of UNESCO is necessary", it is stated, among other things, in the document.
The protector of property and legal relations insists on this, as it is stated, because there are conflicting views on the matter in the working group, so on the one hand it is insisted that UNESCO give an opinion, and on the other hand that the quarries are located in the hinterland zone, i.e. outside the zone which is under the protection of UNESCO.
The Protector also reminds that it is the legal obligation of the Montenegrin National Commission for UNESCO to submit the opinion of that UN body to the administrative body responsible for the protection of cultural property.
"Which means that it is the obligation of this commission to obtain an opinion in situations where it is necessary," the document says.
Regarding the statements from the MKI, according to which the concessionaires requested a postponement of the payment of the concession fee, the Protector is of the opinion that, if it is the fault of the state authorities, and if the deadlines for the start of the concession activity are clearly defined, the request of the concessionaire should be considered.
"That is, comply, until the state fulfills its obligations, that is, until the conditions for the start of exploitation work are met. Otherwise, there is a possibility of terminating the contract and claiming compensation for damages from the concessionaire, which would be reflected in the return of the concession fee, compensation for actual damages and compensation for damages in the form of lost profits", the Protector's opinion reads.
The Directorate for the Protection of Cultural Property recently informed the Ministry of Culture and Media that last year in April, they brought individual impact assessments and conservation conditions for all three locations.
The contract for the "Krivošije" quarry was concluded with the company "Braća Magud" from Grblje on July 10, 2019, the contract for "Ledenice" with the Nikšić company "MIL-Com" on November 8 of the same year. The concession contract for detailed geological research and exploitation of non-metallic mineral raw material of technical-building stone from the location "Stupne" was concluded on June 11, 2020 with the Tivat company "Sanpetrol". In the hinterland of Risno, there are three active quarries.
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