The company Zijin Mining Serbia announced today, on the occasion of the protest of dissatisfied residents of Slatina held on Wednesday, that Zijin Mining operates in full compliance with the positive legislation of the Republic of Serbia and accepted international standards applied in the process of acquiring land necessary for mining infrastructure.
During this process, we are continuously making additional efforts to apply a fair and transparent approach to all landowners under the influence of the Project, according to Zijin.
“Starting from 2016, Serbian Zijin Mining doo Bor (formerly Rakita Exploration doo Bor), is actively buying land in this area for the construction of the future mine. For the offers that are submitted to the owners for purchase through a direct agreement, Zijin Mining hired court experts to assess the real market value of the land and added additional fees to that,” it is stated in the announcement.
Zijin Mining adds a bonus of 100 percent of the value of the land, as well as a bonus of 430 euros per cadastral parcel, to the value of the land assessed by court experts.
“For construction facilities, we pay the replacement value of the facility (instead of paying the real market price of often dilapidated and neglected buildings prone to demolition, we offer an amount that would cover the costs of building that facility on another location, in the same area of brand new material. Thus, the purchase price is formed, which is delivered in writing to the owner of the cadastral parcel. The landowners themselves are present at the field assessment by the court expert. So far, we have purchased more than 1,400 ha of land on a voluntary basis, from over 600 owners, and we believe that these figures testify to the cooperation achieved and the satisfaction of the locals with the achieved price,” it is added.
As it is further stated, every owner of the land from which the land was purchased for the needs of the mining infrastructure received full legal, financial, tax and other support during the entire process of buying the land.
“All costs related to the conclusion of the contract are borne by the company – the findings and opinion of the appraisal house, the tax on the transfer of absolute rights, the fee of the Notary Public, the RGZ fee, etc. Serbia Zijin Mining provides additional support to those who need something like that even after the completion of the land acquisition process, because our company strives to remain in the best possible relations with local communities, with the fact that 96 percent of our employees come from the local community (especially Brestovac, Metovnica and Slatine), and whose business contribution is highly appreciated,” it is stated.
“We must point out that Zijin Mining bought about 98.5 percent of the necessary land from the locals on a voluntary basis for the needs of building mines and mining infrastructure. On the other hand, disagreements with several owners regarding the prices, which should be applied in the land purchase procedure, led to the determination of the public interest and the initiation of expropriation proceedings as soon as all legal conditions have been met,” the statement added.
Zijin Mining reminds that the process of land expropriation is a process regulated by law and which takes place before local self-government bodies and competent courts for the territory where the expropriated real estate is located.
“We would like to point out that a small number of out-of-court proceedings are being conducted before the Bor Basic Court, in which the amount of compensation that the company will be obliged to pay to the previous owners as a beneficiary of expropriation will be determined. After the end of the non-litigation procedure, the company will, without exceptions, respect the decisions of the Court and pay the adjudicated amounts without delay,” it is added.
As mentioned earlier, Zijin Mining fully respects and applies the laws of the Republic of Serbia, and we understand and respect the right of 10 dissatisfied landowners to protest and express different opinions, but we believe that only by discussion and fair and transparent attitude can we overcome all problems.
Despite yesterday’s events, Zijin Mining is open for further cooperation with all state bodies and representatives of local communities, including dissatisfied locals, with the hope that we will reach a solution to the mutual satisfaction.
In the meantime, we will continue the process of further employment of the local population and the program of donations to local communities and the City of Bor.
We will also continue our assistance in the construction of public infrastructure, construction of water supply in Metovnica, reconstruction and extension of the school in Brestovac, construction and rehabilitation of local roads in Slatina and other accompanying activities that will further strengthen ties with our good friends and neighbors with one clear goal – to make Bor and Serbia a better place to live,” they say from Zijin Mining.
Residents of the village of Slatina protested in Bor on Wednesday because, as they stated, the usurpation of their land in the process of opening the copper mine “Cukaru Peki” and the refusal of the company Zijin Mining Serbia to buy land from them at the price prescribed by the state, Politika reports.
