The Rio Tinto responded to the claims of the Environmental Uprising Association regarding the company’s activities in Serbia and the Jadar project.
“Such statements represent a continuation of the tendency of the media to make inaccurate and unfounded claims about our company.”
We understand that the Republic of Serbia is currently in the pre-election cycle and that such statements are primarily motivated by political ambitions, and not by a genuine desire to engage in an open and constructive discussion about the project.
As an example, the Ecological Uprising stated that in September of this year, it participated in the signing of the Letter of Intent between the Government of Serbia and the European Union. That claim is incorrect. Rio Tinto was not a signatory to that document.
We respect the decision of the Government of the Republic of Serbia from January 2022, and all our activities are in accordance with the legal status of our company. However, we still believe in the “Jadar” Project, that jadarite can be safely and responsibly exploited and processed, and that it can significantly contribute to the economy of Serbia and the transformation of the entire Serbian industry,” according to Rio Tinto’s announcement.
They point out that there is still a lot of misinformation about the project.
“We are available to talk openly with all interested parties in Serbia so that they fully understand the project, the measures foreseen for environmental protection and the benefits it could bring.” However, such dialogue is possible only with those who really want to talk to us. The debate on Jadro is in everyone’s interest. Everything else is just an attempt to attract media attention in which we will not participate,” Rio Tinto concludes.
