All nine pit coal mines in Serbia are operating at full capacity as of today, says Marko Vukovic, director of the Resavica Underground Coal Mining Company.
He stated that as of today, the full capacity is being worked, after a short period, when the mines of Soko and Lubnica were tested for mining by the coronavirus and when these mines were working at reduced capacity.
“The mines did not cease production during the state of emergency, because the production of nine pit coal mines is of particular importance for Serbia,” Vukovic said.
According to JP Resavica, since the beginning of the state of emergency, the mines have applied all the measures of protection of miners recommended by the Crisis Staff of the Government of Serbia, and Vukovic said that the miners and all employees were provided with protective equipment, permanent multi-use masks, which is mandatory.
In addition, he says, the mines also apply additional measures such as measuring temperature on arrival to employees and disinfecting hands with alcohol, and will retain such measures even after the state of emergency is lifted.
When they come to work with masks, employees disinfect their hands, miners change in groups and call out in groups, so they go to the workplace, and there are a maximum of four miners in one group.
“It is a very difficult job, it requires maximum psychophysical preparation, every day it is a head in the bag,” Vukovic points out.
There is manual labor in the mines, unlike 30 years ago when there was mechanization, and Vukovic says if no pandemic had occurred, the Resavica mines would enter into a contract for the purchase of coal mining machines.
It is a 10 million euro loan, he added.
Vukovic says this is the first investment in mines after 30 years and expects that the realization of the job will start soon after the state of emergency is lifted.
This will mean the introduction of modern technology, increasing capacity and drastically increasing the safety and security of miners, explained Vukovic.
“Thanks to the understanding of President Aleksandar Vucic and the Government of Serbia, the future has been recognized in coal mine mines, that is, the state no longer pursues a policy of mine closure but investment and opening of new capacities,” said Vukovic.
He also said that the Government of Serbia paid for the linking of the miners’ work experience for the period 2011 to 2012 and paid the remaining difference for the shift work in the amount of 12.5 million euros generated by 2012, Dnevnik reports.
