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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Government to request session of UN Security Council regarding Trepca Mines

Belgrade, 8 October 2016

Director of the Office for Kosovo-Metohija of the Serbian government Marko Djuric stated today that the decision of the provisional institutions in Pristina on the confiscation of the Trepca mining and metallurgical complex is null and void for the Serbian government, its institutions, companies and citizens of the Republic of Serbia.

Djuric said at an extraordinary press conference that he will propose to the Serbian government to request on Monday, 10 October, an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council about seizing the property of the Republic of Serbia and the violation of UN Resolution 1244 on which the peace and stability in the region rests.

If they do not want to talk about that in Brussels, they will have to talk in the UN, Djuric stated.

He said that Trepca is the basis of existence of the Serbian people in Kosovo-Metohija and stressed that the decision of the provisional institutions in Pristina on confiscation of Trepca is an attempt to complete the ethnic cleansing of Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija.

The decision is invalid and does not produce legal effects, nor consequences in terms of labour-legal relations, debtor-creditor relations and other liabilities of Trepca, he said.

The Director of the Office for Kosovo-Metohija said that the balance reserves of lead and zinc of Trepca are 51 million tons, which is an asset worth tens of billions of euros and whose exploitation can be done for generations.

In the north of Kosovo alone, assets exceed several hundred million euros, he added and underlined that the owners of Trepca are the Serbian Development Fund, Genex, Jugobanka, Progres, Dunavbanka, Electrical Power Industry of Serbia, 14. Oktobar Krusevac, Termoelektro Beograd, Ratko Mitrovic and Pozega Luka Bar Beograd.

Also, Djuric said that the annual production and the excavations are on the constant rise in northern Kosovo-Metohija, and that every year it increases by some 20 percent.

Last year the production stood at 210,000 tonnes. Of those minerals alone that were sold on the world market, more than 3,000 workers of Trepca lived last year, without any subsidies. This shows what an important economic resource Trepca is, he explained.

The Director of the Office for Kosovo-Metohija said that thanks to the decision of Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic to help the development of Trepca, a feasibility study was started for the development of new battery factory, which was announced during his visit to the north of the province.

According to him, the coalition agreement between the Serbian list and Albanian political representatives in Kosovo-Metohija has been violated by the confiscation of Trepca.

My suggestion to the Serbian government will be that the decision of Pristina is annulled and that the ministries and other institutions be ordered to secure the property, safety and survival of people who depend on Trepca, Djuric stated.