During five years of business in Serbia, the Chinese company invested about 2.95 billion US dollars, which is far more than they were obliged to do according to the agreement on strategic cooperation with the government. Gold production increased by 50.17 percent compared to 2021, 480,000 seedlings were planted, and the overall wastewater reuse rate reached 93 percent.
Our employees, including the citizens of Bor and Majdanpek, can see how much has been done to protect the environment since the arrival of Zijin Copper. We will follow the concept of green development and continue to invest in this area. We hope that the Government of Serbia, organizations and citizens will continue to trust “Zijin” and support the development of the company, especially in some investment projects in the field of environmental protection. These pollutions are a part of the past – said Zou Gang, Deputy General Director of “Serbia Zijin Copper”, in an interview.
This year Zijin Copper marks five years since his arrival in Serbia.
What does this five-year experience show and would you do the same again and come here to work?
Five years is a short period of time. When Zijin Copper took over Mining and Smelting Basin (RTB) Bor, the company had 4,900 employees. We had many challenges in areas such as safety, environmental protection and production.
Through persistent work, we made a turnaround in a relatively short period of time and focused on sustainable development. In the past five years, we have hired more than 2,700 new employees, and salaries have increased by 80 percent compared to the previous period.
The state of the environment in Bor has been significantly improved, especially when it comes to the quality of air, soil remediation and mine greening… The development of Zijin Copper is inseparable from the support of the Government of Serbia and the citizens of Bor and Majdanpek, and is the result of friendship China and Serbia and the deepening of cooperation between the two countries.
How much has been invested in mines and smelters so far, will Serbia become the second country in Europe in terms of copper production thanks to you, and what does it depend on?
During five years of business in Serbia, “Zijin mining group” invested about 2.95 billion US dollars, which is far more than we committed to in the agreement on strategic cooperation with the government. We allocated 7.88 million dollars to infrastructure, health care, education, culture and sports and thus contributed to the development of the local communities where we operate.
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