In the mining industry of Serbia until 2020 year should be invested over three billion euros, and it is planned that the number of employees in this sector be increased to about 30,000, said on Monday secretary of State for Mining Zlatko Dragosavljevic.
Draft law on Mining and geological research provides that compensation for the exploitation of mineral resources be increased and that is up to seven percent, and the height of that amount will depend on the importance of the mineral resources in Serbia, said Dragosavljevic, presenting a draft of the law in the Serbian chamber of commerce. The new legal solution is planned to earmarked spending resources from these funds for infrastructure and quality of life of local communities in which raw materials are exploited, Dragosavljevic said and stressed that the current fee for the exploitation of mineral resources of three percent is among the lowest in Europe.
He announced that in the mining companies in Serbia will soon be available a number of locations for exploration and exploitation and that license to research will lose companies that already have them but do not use it right.
Companies which don’t conduct research, and have permission to do that, will get additional time, he said, adding that it will tighten the conditions for irresponsible companies, to allow those who really want to deal with this business,to do that.
According to Dragosavljevic, long-term goal of developing the mining industry in Serbia is to increase the participation of Serbia in the mining industry of gross domestic product from the current two to more than five percent by 2020th .
It is planned that volume of production to be increased from 80 to 120 million tons and revenues of the mining industry grow from 1.2 billion euros per year to 2.3 billion euros and income from related industries with three reaches six billion euros a year.
The new law ,as public interest,will define the mineral resources that are important for development of Serbia, which will contribute to attracting investors to invest in the Serbian mining, which has to be more respectable in our industry, said Dragosavljevic.
Public consultation on the draft law on mining and geological exploration ending today, and apart from the Belgrade public hearings were held in Bor in Kolubara.
Dragosavljevic expressed the hope that the Serbian government by the end of this month will adopt the draft law, which should be adopted in Parliament by the end of October.
Source serbia-energy.com
