The Draft Strategy for the Management of Mineral and Geological Resources of Serbia (2025–2040, with a projection to 2050) has raised serious concerns among environmental organizations, experts and civil society. While it presents itself as a development-oriented document, the strategy primarily serves as a blueprint for expanding mining activities across Serbia, with minimal regard for environmental protection, public interest, or democratic decision-making.
The strategy promotes a model of maximizing mineral exploitation while minimizing costs for investors. However, it lacks concrete safeguards for nature and local communities. Environmental protection is mentioned only in abstract terms, without clear mechanisms for monitoring pollution, managing waste, or rehabilitating degraded land. Despite stating a goal of minimizing environmental damage, the strategy allows mining activities even in protected areas such as national parks, water sources, agricultural lands, and populated zones—practically without restriction. The only areas explicitly shielded from exploitation are those containing “strategic deposits,” indicating a prioritization of state interests in specific cases rather than holistic environmental or public protections.
Alarmingly, the document also enables land expropriation without meaningful limitations. Private property, including fertile agricultural land, can be seized in the name of public interest, facilitating mining even against the will of landowners. This legal mechanism effectively undermines the right of local communities to participate in decision-making or defend their territory from destructive projects.
The strategy further entrenches privatization and deregulation in the mining sector. It proposes simplifying procedures through a centralized “single point of contact” for investors, while preserving controversial provisions like automatic exploitation rights and long-term licenses without public competition. These measures reduce state and community control over strategic natural resources. At the same time, it weakens the role of public institutions like the Geological Institute of Serbia and limits the influence of domestic academic expertise in managing geological and mineral data.
In the last seven years, Serbia has already seen a drastic increase in mining intensity, particularly in copper and gold extraction, which grew nearly fivefold between 2017 and 2024. However, most of this output is exported as low-processed raw ore and flotation concentrate, often with large amounts of waste, leaving local communities to deal with the long-term environmental damage. The draft strategy envisions the continuation—and even acceleration—of this trend, with little attention to sustainability, processing within Serbia, or strategic control over national resources.
Critics also highlight the lack of transparency and legality in the consultation process. The environmental impact assessment was made available to the public for only one week—during a national holiday—violating legal requirements for at least 30 days of public debate. The document’s authors remain anonymous, and independent scientific or academic institutions were not consulted in its preparation. This opaque and exclusionary process undermines public trust and raises questions about whose interests the strategy ultimately serves.
In its current form, the strategy represents a significant risk to Serbia’s environment, democratic institutions, and national sovereignty over natural resources. It prioritizes short-term economic gain for foreign investors at the expense of long-term ecological and social well-being. A complete overhaul of the draft is necessary, including transparent authorship, proper legal procedures, scientific review and strong public participation to ensure a truly sustainable and democratic approach to resource management.
