How and in what way can the economy and economy of Serbia get out of the crisis the fastest and in the long term? This question was asked several times in the recent and distant past, but also in the previous days, during the formation of the new government.
For this reason, in Niš, the largest urban and industrial center, but also in the entire south and southeast of the country, the story of the inexhaustible and, by all accounts, the greatest mineral wealth of our country was initiated again. In the Regional Chamber of Commerce, Slobodan Milosavljević, secretary of the Committee for Chemistry, Pharmacy, Rubber Industry, Mines and Non-Metal Industry, told Politika:
– Our chamber is preparing a big meeting for the beginning of June, with the working title “Non-metals – materials of the future of Serbia”, at which we plan to present the huge wealth that this part of our country has, which has already been proven by numerous studies. A lot is known about this wealth, but, unfortunately, so far, not even a fraction has been used, although it can bring prosperity not only to this part of our country, but also to the whole of Serbia.
Decades ago, Milosavljević points out, scientific workers from our country and abroad pointed to the wealth that Serbia has in non-metals. Even so, it didn’t start from a standstill:
– At the end of the 1960s, researches irrefutably confirmed the existence of one large string of pure and finest calcite on Suva mountain. The reasons why the exploitation never started are not known, but it is known that it is not only about that one wire, but also that the whole Suva mountain is in calcite, which is also used in the pharmaceutical, rubber and, especially, in the paper industry. This was recently said by the well-known expert for non-metals, prof. Dr. Siniša Milošević, head of the Institute for Non-Metal Technology IDNMS. The country of Serbia would have an annual income of more than half a billion euros only in the first level of processing, in packaging and transport to industrial plants. If, with the provision of the right and necessary infrastructure, a second level of processing for the exploitation of calcite would be organized, the benefit would be measured in billions of euros on an annual basis.
The situation is similar with the wealth of Stara Planina and other parts of southeast Serbia, says Slobodan Milosavljević:
– There are inexhaustible reserves and priceless values of granite on Stara planina. Although three decades ago there was an attempt to exploit granite on the route between Knjaževac and Pirot, which is why a sample of extremely high-quality stone from this mountain was sent for expertise to Italy, from where the results of the top quality of the granite arrived, nothing was done after that. Just as Serbia’s great wealth in phosphorus, not far from Bosilegrad, is not being used either. For years, as far as is known, the well-known “Viktoria Group” has been looking for a strategic partner, but nothing is being done. In the simplest process of micronization of phosphorus, phosphorus fertilizer can be obtained in this part of our country, and with further organized processing – phosphoric acid.
At the upcoming meeting in Niš, as planned, the Regional Chamber of Commerce will also present the wealth of Serbia in its south and southeast, such as basalt in Kopaonik, zeolite in the vicinity of Vranje or bentonite in the Svrlji mountains. It is a great natural resource, the like of which is not found anywhere in the vicinity, but which is not used at all or is used only sporadically and little.
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