New mines would bring Serbia USD 5bn investment and jobs for 4,500

(Photo: Kuznetcov_Konstantin/shutterstock.com)

“Opening five new mines at existing mineral deposits in Serbia in which foreign companies are interested would mean USD 5bn in direct investment and securing around a thousand direct and 3,500 indirect jobs”, said Miroslav Miletić, Vice-President of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce (SCC).

At the First Serbian-Nordic Mining Academy, the Vice President of the SCC announced that Serbia has a modern legislative framework in the mining sector that can enable investment and development of these areas of business.

“There are around 320 mining companies registered in Serbia, of varying sizes and capitalisation, employing some 25,000 staff. Serbia has extensive geological resources and active deposits, and exploitation and strategic plans point in the direction of enhancing production in existing mining plants and opening new ones, modernising equipment and introducing new technologies for excavation, preparation and treatment”, said Miletić.

Fresh geological research carried out by renowned foreign companies (Dundee Precious Metals, Rio Tinto, Freeport-McMoran, Reservoir Capital Corp, Columbus Copper…) suggests better days for this branch of Serbian business. Several dozen research projects are under way. Targets of the research are non-ferrous metals and precious minerals, lithium, non-metals, hydrocarbons, said the Vice-President of the SCC.

Developing the mining sector and bringing investment in this area is a priority, as also confirmed by Siniša Tanacković, Deputy Minister for Mining and Energy. According to him there is a mining tradition in Serbia, the sector's potential is huge along with the potential for increasing its contribution to GDP, which amounted to 1.5% of GDP in 2014. He stresses that he expects a lot of geological research, which should result in the opening of new mines.

Strong support to advancing the development of Serbian mining and the application of the most modern technology was also mentioned by Perti Ikonen, Finnish ambassador to Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia, while Stefan Noren, ambassador and senior adviser on economy and innovation to the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, mentioned the great potential for transfer of knowledge, experience and modern mining technology from the Nordic countries to Serbia.

Translation provided by: www.halifax-translation.com