Serbia has ordered China’s Zijin Mining Group to suspend work on a shaft at its only copper mine in Serbia and to complete construction of a wastewater treatment plant after the group failed to comply with environmental standards, Serbia’s mining and energy minister said on Wednesday (April 14).
Serbia’s Mining and Energy Minister Zorana Mihajlovic said authorities had ordered Zijin Mining’s Serbia-based subsidiary to halt construction of a shaft at the Jama copper mine in late March, Reuters reported.
Mihajlovic said in a statement that “the state has responded to complaints from residents near the Jama mine.”
Mihajlovic also said Zijin Mining had also been ordered to urgently complete construction of a wastewater treatment plant to protect the River Pek, a tributary of the Danube, from pollution.
She added: “They have to eliminate all violations by April 30.”
China is investing billions of euros in Serbia, mainly in the form of soft loans to finance road and energy projects.
Zijin Mining is a strategic partner of Serbia’s RTB Bor, a copper mining and smelting complex in Bor, Serbia. Zijin Mining had committed to invest $1.26 billion in exchange for a 63 percent stake.
Zijin Mining’s subsidiary in Serbia said last week it plans to invest $408 million in 2021 to overhaul, expand and improve the environmental standards of the mine and smelter.
“Serbia is the most polluted country in Europe,” the Global Health and Pollution Alliance said in its 2019 report.
Thousands of people gathered in the Serbian capital Belgrade on Saturday to protest the government’s lack of action to prevent pollution caused mainly by industry and mining.
Serbian authorities also recently ordered the closure of a Chinese-owned plastics recycling plant in the northern region of Vojvodina following complaints from residents.
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