The Zdravi Mojkovac citizen initiative called on the Special State Prosecutor's Office to "reconsider everything" regarding the project to open the Brskovo mine.
They said that on July 25, in accordance with the defined termination clauses, and on the basis of unfulfilled contractual obligations and "numerous other inconsistencies with the legal regulations" in force in Montenegro, the condition for terminating the contract with the company "Brskovo Mine" from Podgorica is met. on the concession for detailed geological research and exploitation of sulphide polymetallic ore in the exploration and exploitation area of the former "Brskovo" mine near Mojkovac.
They announced that they will file criminal charges if the Government decides to sign a new annex to the contract with that concessionaire.
By reviewing the text of the contract and the information on the implementation of the concession contract for detailed geological research and the exploitation of sulphide polymetallic ore, on Government website, it is concluded, as they point out in the announcement, that all the conditions provided for in the contract have been met for Montenegro to "without any financial obligations, legally" terminate the mentioned contract and "approach the strategic planning of the use of the mentioned space in accordance with the interests of the citizens of Mojkovac and the citizens of Montenegro Up".
GI Zdravi Mojkovac states in a statement that the concessionaire has not fulfilled the contractual obligations for more than 13 years, while the prescribed deadlines have been extended by signing, so far, six contract annexes.
"During the public hearing for the Draft Detailed Spatial Plan for the area of the concession area for the exploitation of mineral resources - Brskovo, Municipality of Mojkovac and the Strategic Assessment of the Environmental Impact of DPP Brskovo, the public was informed about the urban and technical solutions proposed by the Concessionaire, as well as the mechanisms that should mitigate the impact of the mine on the environment and human health. The aforementioned two documents were approved for public hearing by the Government on the proposal of the Ministry of Ecology, Spatial Planning and Urbanism.
"Evident non-compliance with legal regulations, a large number of omissions, contradictions, vagueness, lack of objective assessment of the resulting consequences, concealment of facts about the presence of mercury and other components classified as hazardous waste, non-compliance with higher-order plans, lack of necessary accompanying studies, the need to relocate 400, 220 and 110 kV (and other power facilities), huge conflicts in space that primarily arise from the overlapping of the concession area in relation to the protection zone of NP Bio gradska gora, the absence of UNESCO's opinion regarding the impact of mining-technological activities on the Tara River, the destruction and displacement of archaeological sites and cemeteries, the emigration of families from centuries-old hearths, the direct threat to the safety and health of the citizens of Mojkovac, and numerous other remarks that we submitted to the Ministry of Ecology, Spatial Planning and Urbanism within the framework of the public hearing, point to the only conclusion: that the proposed DPP for the area of the concession area for the exploitation of mineral raw materials - Brskovo, Municipality of Moj is possible Kovac and the Strategic Environmental Impact Assessment for DPP Brskovo are absolutely unacceptable, that they cannot undergo changes and additions without fulfilling the valid regulations and that they must be withdrawn, and the procedure for their adoption suspended," the announcement states.
Confirmation of the above, as they said, is also the letter to the Ministry of Ecology dated June 7, in which the manager of the plan, Sonja Radović Jelovac, Ph.D., was hired by the Government, stating "numerous procedural and legal inconsistencies", in the conclusion she stated that "not wanting to enter potentially in the zone of violation of legal regulations and provisions, and in order to protect the professional integrity of the planning team, it proposes to suspend planning activities until strategic decisions related to the concession area are made at the state level, respecting the legal regulations".
"All of the above is directly related to Article 34 of the Agreement, which defines the reasons for the termination of the Agreement by the state, and due to the violation of the provisions of the Agreement by the Concessionaire, without the possibility of obtaining any compensation or recovery of damages in favor of the Concessionaire from the State of Montenegro," added Zdravi Mojkovac from GI.
The second legal basis for terminating the contract, according to them, is defined by the termination clause of Annex 2: "If the Concessionaire does not receive urban planning - technical conditions from the competent authority, which are one of the conditions for obtaining approval for the exploitation of mineral raw materials in the exploitation field and approval for the performance of works according to the main mining project of exploitation established in Article 9 and 10 of the Agreement, within the agreed period".
This termination clause, they indicate, was postponed by signing four more annexes, "giving the concessionaire an additional 11 years to fulfill the contractual obligations, which he did not fulfill".
"In support of the fact that the state of Montenegro cannot have any financial obligations towards the Concessionaire, there is a clause from Annex 4 which defines that the exclusive risk of the Concessionaire is to obtain approval and consent for exploitation, the adoption of spatial planning documentation and the issuance of urban planning and technical conditions. It is also prescribed that all changes to the law of Montenegro, and especially changes to the law resulting from the implementation of EU regulations, are applied to the Agreement, while in the event of a collision between the provisions of the Agreement and the law, the law is applied. This prevents the introduction or reference to the provisions any stabilization clause. This is directly related to the Law on Industrial Emissions ("Sl list CG", no: 17/19), which the Concessionaire "forgot" to be in force, and whose articles 58 and 59 directly prohibit the planned processing activities due to the presence of mercury, while the Ministry of Ecology, Spatial Planning and Urbanism put the DPP Brskovo and the Strategic Environmental Impact Assessment of DPP Brskovo for public discussion without the opinion of the Directorate for Ecology and Climate Change, in which is under the jurisdiction of the Industrial Emissions Act.
"In the series of signing annexes to the Agreement, without a clear and objective explanation, disregarding the state's strategic determination in the direction of sustainable development, without economic justification and economic analysis in general, bearing in mind the amount of the concession fee (fixed, slightly more than 600.000 euros per year in two installments and variable, 3,5% of the 'market value of the total sales product'), in 2019 the Government also signed Annex 6, which proposes the following changes:
"Amendment in Article 1, paragraph 1 of Annex 5 of the Agreement so that the words: 'no later than the end of the second year, counting from July 25, 2019, prepare mining technical documentation and obtain approvals, permits and consents to meet the conditions for the exploitation of mineral raw materials and for obtaining approval for the execution of works according to the main mining project of exploitation on explored deposits'; they are changed and read: 'by July 25, 2023 at the latest, prepare mining technical documentation and obtain approvals, permits and consents for meeting the conditions for the exploitation of mineral raw materials and for obtaining approvals for the execution of works under the main mining project of exploitation on the investigated deposits'", the statement added.
Article 14 of the contract stipulates that the concessionaire is obliged to provide the ministry in charge of mining and geological research with a bank guarantee in the amount of 500.000 euros on behalf of the valid performance of the contractual obligations, "in such a way that the same will be realized in whole or in part in the event of termination of the contract (unless the termination of validity of the Agreement occurred due to the expiration of the time for which the concession was granted), termination of the Agreement (if the termination was due to the fault of the concessionaire), as well as in all other cases related to the valid execution of the Agreement".
Based on all of the above, the GI Zdravi Mojkovac said, evidence was presented on the reasons for terminating the contract with the concessionaire, after which the state retains the bank guarantee in the amount of 500.000 euros and retains all the studies made so far.
"After finally abandoning the opening of a mine in this area in accordance with the proposed technology of open pit mining and flotation processing with the devastation of 6.900.000 m2 with potential contamination with hazardous substances polluting a wide radius of the environment, putting the citizens of Mojkovac in direct danger in the first place, it is necessary to provide funds that will enable the reclamation of the area of the former Brskovo mine (for a start, money from a bank guarantee). This space is needed, in accordance with the plans of a higher order and with the only correct visionary approach, in accordance with the laws of Montenegro, tourism valorization and invested funds will be returned in a short period of time (make an economic study, which is missing in the Plan, and concerns the first scenario).
"As for the last 13 years due to the fact that the Agreement with the Concessionaire was in force, indirectly, the state was prevented from carrying out the rehabilitation and recultivation of the area of the former Brskovo mine, and the Concessionaire did not fulfill the contracted services, the environment 'suffered', primarily the river Rudnica, so we propose to consider initiating proceedings for responsibility for environmental damage against the Concessionaire in accordance with the Law on Liability for Environmental Damage," the statement added.
From GI Zdravi Mojkovac, they said that they want that municipality to "get the development chance it deserves" and to end, in their assessment, the discriminatory relationship that "threatened that Mojkovac, instead of green development, will once again become the biggest ecological black spot in the country".
"If the Government of Montenegro decides, despite all the proven violations of the law and provisions of the Agreement, to sign Annex 7 with the Concessionaire and thus continue to support this harmful contract for Montenegro in every way, we will file criminal charges against all responsible persons individually with the competent state prosecutor's office , as soon as possible. We also invite the Special State Prosecutor's Office to investigate the case," the announcement concludes.
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