Zorana Mihajlovic (BETAPHOTO/MINISTRY OF MINING AND ENERGY/ZORAN PETROVIC/MO)
Serbian Minister of Mining and Energy Zorana Mihajlovic has said that there is no state contract with the Rio Tinto company regarding the exploitation of lithium in the vicinity of Loznica, and that information on all of her ministry's operations was publicly available, the Ministry said on Dec. 30.
"We have no rights to the exploitation of lithium, as we have been hearing. Everything is public, there is no contract. I cannot table something that does no exist. What does exist is a study on lithium reserves, because it is important that we know how much lithium we have, as a critical mineral in the world. There is a Memorandum of Understanding dating 2017, which is not binding. There is no contract between the government and Rio Tinto," Mihajlovic said.
She reiterated for Insider TV that not a single decision would be brought until an assessment of the environmental impact. "I would wait for studies [to be completed] and then talk, but everyone should know that we will do nothing that is contrary to the law, the country and people. All of our laws are harmonized with the EU, including environmental protection standards," Mihajlovic said.
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