Although published, it seems that the point was not made on the "Jadar" project and the intention to mine lithium in the valley of the river of the same name in the west of Serbia.
"Whenever they mention that story, they create panic in Gornji Nedeljice. They simply don't let us live," Marijana Petković from the Association "Ne damo Jadar" told RSE.
This is how this resident of Gornja Nedeljica, a village in the Jadar valley where lithium reserves were discovered, reacted to the statements of the Prime Minister and the President of Serbia, which actualized the project of the international mining company "Rio Tinto".
"Rio Tinto" planned to build a mine for the exploitation of lithium ore in the west of Serbia.
In 2004, this company discovered "jadarite" ore in Serbia - a combination of lithium and boron, whose estimated reserves are over 158 million tons of ore.
Lithium, a valuable metal on the world market, is used for the production of batteries, primarily for mobile phones, computers, and electric cars.
At the same time, there are numerous objections in the world to the harmful effects of lithium mines on the environment.
After mass protests by citizens throughout Serbia, the Government of Serbia stopped the project in early 2022.
Now the state leadership says that "Rio Tinto" has not left Serbia after all.
Marijana Petković from the Association "Ne damo Jadar" says that the residents of Jadar have clearly told the authorities in Belgrade and "Rio Tinto" that they do not want the mine.
"We have said ours, we have put an end to it, they can try to enter. We will fight in all possible ways," she said.
What does the competent ministry say?
The Ministry of Mining and Energy announced to RSE that there is no decision on the continuation of the "Rio Tinta" project to open a lithium mine in Serbia.
"The project was stopped by the decision of the Government of Serbia from January 2022. The Government of Serbia did not make a different decision," the Ministry stated on January 22.
However, they underline that in the future "that project must be discussed".
The Ministry says that the contract with "Rio Tinto" does not exist, but that the company submitted a request to be granted exploitation.
"No one else can get that approval, unless the company withdraws that request," the Ministry stated.
They reminded that Rio Tinto started its activities in Serbia in 2004. Geological explorations of boron and lithium in the "Jadar" field began based on the approval of the Ministry of Mining and Energy.
At that time, the minority government was led by the right-wing Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) with the support of the Socialists.
The current law on mining implies that the company that is the holder of the research, based on the confirmation of the reserves found, has the right to obtain a decision on exploitation - that is, to start extracting ore.
Now the Ministry of Mining says that based on that, "Rio Tinto" can sue Serbia.
"Citizens would pay for the damage, and it could be measured in hundreds of millions of euros. That's why it is necessary to look at the benefits that citizens could have, which are also measured in hundreds of millions of euros," said the Ministry.
They also stated that "all environmental standards must be at the highest level", and that "certainly, there can be no project" without this.
What did the president and prime minister of Serbia say?
The first messages to citizens about the return of "Rio Tinto" to the game came from the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, first from Davos, where he participated in the World Economic Forum.
On January 17, he said that he had a difficult conversation with the company's representatives and that the country is facing the question of whether it will file a lawsuit against Serbia or not, but also the question of whether Serbia will accept the growth agenda or not.
"I said that they must offer the cleanest solution that our people must be satisfied with, the highest standards in the world for nature and the people who will work," said Vučić.
Vučić repeatedly repeated his position in public that "giving up lithium exploitation was his biggest mistake".
Thus, on January 22, from Skopje, where he participated in the forum on the Western Balkans, he said that as far as he was concerned, lithium "can be mined in the morning" because, as he assessed, that ore is "our treasure".
On the same day in Belgrade, Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabić said that she never stopped the "Rio Tinta" project because she thought it was bad, but that she "put it on pause" because of the protests.
"It is up to the future government to decide whether it will do something in this regard. I hope it will," Brnabić told TV Hepi.
In Serbia, a new government is expected to be formed after the extraordinary parliamentary elections in December.
On January 21, Brnabić told Pink that "Rio Tinto" did not leave Serbia because it owns a "significant amount of land", stating that "locals voluntarily sold the land" to this company.
However, two years ago, the Prime Minister said that an "absolute end" had been put to Rio Tinto's exploration of lithium and boron.
Then the Government of Serbia made a decision to terminate cooperation with this company.
"All administrative acts related to 'Rio Tinto', i.e. (subsidiary company) 'Rio Sava', all permits, decisions, solutions have been annulled. We have fulfilled all the demands of environmental protests, and put an end to 'Rio Tinto' in Serbia," she said. is Brnabić.
"Rio Tinto" replied that they have always respected the laws of Serbia and that they are considering the legal basis for making this decision and the implications it may have on their activities in Serbia.
Former Minister of Energy and Mining and Vice President of the Government of Serbia Zorana Mihajlović believes that instead of such statements and "raising passions", President Vučić should explain the importance of lithium and advocate for environmental impact studies and a discussion about them.
"Everyone must be a part of it and that the greatest experts from here and abroad come and look at the studies, present them to the citizens, and that the public inspection lasts as long as necessary," she said in a written statement to RSE.
Mihajlović, who advocated for the exploitation of lithium when she was the head of the Ministry, says that she remains with that position.
"Are we going to say in the 21st century that we don't need lithium, one of the most important minerals in the world? Lithium is the white gold or oil of the 21st century," she stated.
She added that jadarite, an ore discovered by "Rio Tinto" in the area of western Serbia, is "unique in the world".
What do they say at 'Rio Tinto'?
The company "Rio Tinto" announced on January 22 that it is ready to make public the draft Environmental Impact Assessment Study in its current form.
The study should show whether the mine represents an environmental threat.
The company also stated that "the project affects 52 permanently settled households, of which 51 have been voluntarily sold to Rio Tinto and have already been relocated with the company's comprehensive support."
The company has denied claims by environmental activists that more than 100.000 people will be displaced by the Jadar project.
It was also announced that claims that Rio Tino "destructively affects the environment in all the countries in which it operates have no basis".
"The Jadar project would be developed in a safe and responsible manner, and with full readiness to support the participation of the local community in the transparent monitoring of all the project's impacts on the environment," stated "Rio Tinto".
The company did not respond to RSE's questions until the publication of this text, but they stated that they are preparing an answer.
How was the 'Jadar' project stopped?
Opposition to lithium mining led to mass protests and roadblocks in Serbia in late 2021 and early 2022.
Environmental activists stated that the extraction of lithium would pollute the river basin, the soil and leave incalculable negative consequences for the environment.
The company promised to comply with environmental regulations, but the Government, under public pressure, made a decision to invalidate all decisions regarding the "Rio Tinta" project.
For Aleksandar Jovanović Ćuta, the leader of the Ecological Uprising who led the protests, the story of "Rio Tinto" is closed.
"They could have discussed that, but they ignored everything, and then the street happened to them, so that topic was closed. In order for it to come back again, it is necessary to lobby, and what they are doing is pure lobbying in the interest of a foreign company and because of the assumed obligations", he assesses.
Jovanović adds that the question "whose lithium is it" should be addressed.
"If it belongs to the citizens of Serbia, then a public discussion should be opened about it without the influence of politics, pressure, deception. And it should be evaluated what is useful for the citizens, what is harmful. And that is not done here," he said.
Jovanović, who is also an opposition politician, believes that there is also geopolitics in the story of "Rio Tinto".
"They satisfied the Chinese with gold and copper, (President of Russia Vladimir) Putin with oil and gas, and now the West needs to be satisfied with lithium. Serbia is a buffet table, and Vučić is a waiter," Jovanović said.
The Chinese company Ziđin is the majority owner of the Bor mining and smelting basin, where copper and precious metals are produced.
The Oil Industry of Serbia (NIS) is majority owned by Russia's Gazprom Neft, and Serbia is almost entirely dependent on Russian gas.
What was stopped in the agreement with 'Rio Tinto'?
On January 20, 2022, the Government of Serbia canceled the Spatial Plan for areas of special purpose for the implementation of the jadarite ore exploitation and processing project.
It was needed, as the officials explained, so that the company "Rio Tinto" knew to what extent it was doing the Environmental Impact Assessment Study.
The Working Group that dealt with that project was also abolished, as were all acts related to Rio Tinto "in terms of permits".
As Prime Minister Ana Brnabić said at the time, the company "no longer has investigative rights".
The Memorandum of Understanding regarding the implementation of the "Jadar" project between the Government of Serbia and "Rio Tinta", which was signed in 2017, is not legally binding.
However, environmental activists continued sporadic protests and actions, believing that the Rio Tinta project "has not been put to an end".
They demanded that the law permanently ban lithium mining in Serbia.
Locals of Jadra who are against the lithium mine say that they have finished talks with "Rio Tinto".
"They tried to talk, they sent us emissaries. We will never sit at the same table with them again. We decided that and four years ago we told the company that we would never open a mine," said Marijana Petković from the Association "Ne damo Jadar ".
The issue of lithium mining could be one of the first to await the new Government of Serbia, whose formation was announced in March.
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