Minister of Infrastructure: Jadar Project Processing Resumed, Will Involve Cooperation with EU Partners

Goran Vesic (BETAPHOTO/MILAN ILIC)

In a July 17 statement for the RTS public service, Serbia’s Minister of Construction, Transportation and Infrastructure Goran Vesic denied that a new Cabinet decision has green-lit the Jadar mining project, explaining said document only implements the Constitutional Court’s recent ruling and fills a legal void, allowing ongoing processes to conclude according to the law.

On July 12, the Serbian Constitutional Court invalidated the 2022 Cabinet decision to void the Jadar spatial plan, which had effectively halted Rio Tinto’s efforts to mine lithium in Loznica’s Jadar River Valley. Four days later, on July 16, the Cabinet passed a decision implementing the Court’s ruling – a document Vesic claims was not prepared in anticipation of a particular outcome.

Furthermore, Vesic said, the Jadar Project is by no means a done deal. Rather, the proceedings are ongoing and in keeping with domestic laws. The latter require any potential investor to submit an environmental impact and protection study, which Rio Tinto has yet to do.

“The study will determine whether permits will be issued, whether the spatial plan will be changed. We will insist, should the project come to pass, that a battery factory be built on site. A production plant which will help develop the entire area,” the minister explained.

With regards to media claims that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will visit Belgrade on July 19 and that the main topic of discussion will be lithium, Vesic said he cannot comment but that Serbia “will closely cooperate with European partners in this process.”