Mining is expanding in Serbia. The discussion about whose terms the business is run on is getting livelier.
This year, for the first time, an international seminar on mineral resources in Belgrade, Serbia, attracted near-demonstrations. The meeting organized last week was already the thirteenth in Belgrade.
The mining sector is important for Serbia. The country needs international cooperation, but the local communities would like to keep control and income more strongly in their own hands.
The protesters demanded that the embassies of Canada, Australia, Finland and Sweden, which participated in the conference, account for why the countries sponsored the conference and came to Serbia. They urged the participants to mine in the mines on their own soil.
News about the conference, for example Serbian channel N1. Visiting researcher at the University of Helsinki Dušica Ristivojević followed the conference coverage online. According to him, the protesters were not able to participate in the conference. Activists’ registrations were not accepted and they were not allowed inside the meeting premises.
The protesters belong to the SEOS organization, which represents environmental and civil activism groups operating in Serbia. The protesters are worried, for example, about the environmental and economic effects of the mining industry.
Public demonstrations against international mining companies have been organized for several years.
According to the protesters, the conference itself was too one-sided. In their opinion, the list of performers did not include, for example, researchers who map the disadvantages of mining projects.
Projects around Serbia
Mining is expanding in different parts of Serbia. British-Australian multinational mining giant Rio Tinto is willing to map potential lithium deposits in western Serbia. Citizens’ movement is starting to take off, for example, in the Loznica region.
In the east, the gold and copper reserves are of interest to, among others, the Canadian company Dundee Precious Metals.
Chinese companies also operate in eastern Serbia. In the traditional mining region of Bor and Majdanenki, among other things, gold is searched under the management of the Zijin Mining Group company.
According to the Serbian Ministry of Finance, the three largest export companies this year are Chinese-owned.
The Serbian government and China have close relations
Relations between China and Serbia are traditionally close, says University of Helsinki Visiting Researcher Ristivojević. He is particularly familiar with the operations of Chinese mining companies operating in Serbia.
China began to generously support the transitional economies of Eastern Europe after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The movement of non-aligned countries that stayed outside the Eastern and Western blocs during the Cold War, which was founded in Serbia and where China is an observer member, provided an echo base.
China’s support was particularly useful in the ruins of the former Yugoslavia, in Serbia, which itself had ambitions for power in the Balkan wars of the 1990s.
– China is strong where relations with the European Union are tense. For example, Serbia and China are partly united by the same ideology and values. Let’s stand together against the West, let’s correct the injustices caused by it, describes Ristivojević.
According to him, the Serbian government primarily sees economic opportunities in mining.
– There is a lot of abuse, corruption and bribery involved in the relations between China, local and national actors. Residents in mining areas are not as unreserved in welcoming China.
Finland wants to bring sustainable development to mines
EU candidate Serbia needs external partners to develop its own industry. Like in many other mining areas, the discussion is becoming more lively about whose terms the business will be run on.
Finland has participated in the international conference on mineral resources in Belgrade several times. There are no major projects underway so far. On the website of the Serbian Ministry of Mining The name of Finland does not come up at all.
This year, as in previous years, the conference’s long list of speakers included, among others, the ambassador of Finland Niklas Lindqvist and his Norwegian and Swedish official brothers. Serbia naturally hopes for investments from Finland. The reason why Finland came under criticism from the protesters seems to have been the protesters’ one-sided participation in the conference.
The Embassy of Finland in Belgrade says that Finland strives to promote mining that follows sustainable environmental solutions, social responsibility and good governance. The tightening standards also apply to operations outside the EU. Finland has machines and technical solutions for the mining industry. Finnish companies are mainly equipment suppliers.
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