President of the Republic (Aleksandar Vučić), Prime Minister (Ana Brnabić) and President of the Working Group "Rio Tinto" (Zorana Mihajlović) have been informing the public for days that nothing has been signed, that a Study on the Impact of Lithium on the Environment is pending, and that only then will a final decision be made, and of course: with respect to the opinion of citizens.
Suddenly, with a congratulatory message for the New Year, President Vučić informs the public that 1 billion euros of damages would be paid by Serbia if it were to terminate business contact with Rio Tinto, that not the SNS government – but the previous government is to be blamed "for what they signed".
Just for the record, when the Rio Tinto surfaced in Serbia (in 2004), it got the possibility to conduct survey on its own risk. In case survey proved successful, the Rio Tinto was legally entitled to participate in a public tender or bis collection to cede the exploitation of lithium found to interested persons. Should its bid not be the best, the Law guaranteed a refund of the means it invested. That was the legal framework.
However, seven months ago – all of a sudden and without consultation of the State Attorney’s Office - which takes care about the state-property interests of Serbia - the Parliament without public discussion passed amendments to the Law (Articles 51 . and 52.). These amendments grant the right of the holder of the survey (the former or the future one) to, without calling a public tender or collecting bids, have the exclusive right to exploit the ore found. To make the taking over of the exploitation land possible, which has not been bought off, the law on expropriation was passed following an urgent procedure. At the same time, the amendments to the law on referendum were passed, in order to trace an easier way of getting the citizen’s views concerning the land etc., and amendments to the judicial regulations, passed 15 years ago, are only incidental.
Whether the Rio Tinto stays or not, it is necessary to abrogate the articles 51. and 52. of the Law, while simultaneously putting back in force the two provisions of the Law that were in force back then, when the Rio Tinto arrived in Serbia.
The Democracy Development Foundation