Bosnia journals 2024,
Journal #4:
Coal in Ugljevik; Lithium on Mt. Majevica
2024 Journal
index
Introduction: Meeting the environmental activists
Journal 1:
Ozren is Not for Sale
Journal 2: Pecka
and vicinity: biologists on front line; scandal of coal
Journal 3: The
Pliva River, from the headwaters to the Jajce waterfalls
Journal 4: Coal in Ugljevik; Lithium on Mt. Majevica
Journal 5: With Hajrija Čobo at Mehorić;
Visiting Robert Oroz in Fojnica
Previous journals and articles
To contact Peter in response to these reports or any
of his articles,
click here.
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After visits to Pecka, Jezero, Jajce, and Banja Luka, I headed back
to northeastern Bosnia. There I met Andrijana Pekić, a leader in the
fight against lithium prospecting in the hills of Mt. Majevica.
Andrijana set me up for the night at a hotel in Ugljevik, in the
Republika Srpska.
Mt. Majevica is a hilly area somewhat less rugged than Ozren. It is
further to the east, situated south of Brčko
and east of Tuzla.
There has been prospecting for lithium there; I wanted to see the
region up close and learn about resistance to mining.
News reports
suggest that there are a million tons of lithium located under that
ground. That lithium is part of a strain that reaches eastward under
the Drina River into Serbia, near the town of Loznica and the Jadar
River. The compound of lithium found there has been named "jadarite."
Deposits of the mineral are found near Ugljevik and south towards
Zvornik as well.
Environmental activists throughout the region assert that pollution
that would result from mining on Majevica would create widespread
damage in every direction, across municipal and entity boundaries.
Earlier, when I was visiting members of the organization Karton
Revolucija in Tuzla, leader Adi Selman told me, "It
is just about 20 kilometers between Tuzla and Lopare [the municipal
center of Majevica]. That is closer to Tuzla than some parts of
Tuzla Canton are. Lithium mining on Majevica would be a catastrophe
for the air, water, and soil." Rivers on Majevica include the Gnjica,
which runs to the Sava River. Also in the Majevica drainage area is
the Janja, which runs to the Drina.
Before going to Lopare with Andrijana, I walked around the small
town of Ugljevik. The name of the town is derived from the word for
coal, and coal is, unfortunately, the life of the town.
Ugljevik smelled like sulfur.
I felt sorry for the people who live there. I asked Andrijana how
the health of the people was, and she said that a lot of people get
bronchitis. Cancer is a problem as well; she mentioned depleted
uranium that had been used in munitions fired by NATO in the 1990s,
but said there has been no scientific study of the causes of cancer
in the region.
The coal-fired power plant in the
middle of Ugljevik
Along with the bad air, there was an imposing amount of militaristic
and nationalist symbolism dominating the streets of Ugljevik. In
front of city hall there were heroic statues of soldiers from the
1990s war, and after that
war
one of the main squares was re-named for Draža Mihailović, the World
War II Chetnik leader who was executed for collaboration with the
Nazis.
During my weeks among environmental activists in Bosnia, many of
them spent hours taking me to their most beloved places, the hills
and rivers they were working to defend. As an introduction to
Majevica, Andrijana took me to a park, ten years in development,
called "Eko
izletište (eco-park) Viva Natura Busija."
An affluent businessman named Svetozar Ostojić received a concession
to develop a relatively remote part of the mountain, converting an
undeveloped fire road into a paved street that leads to a guest
house, an artificial pond, a picnic area, and some recreational
installations in the making.
View from Eco-Park
Viva Natura
One part of the visitor center affords an outstanding view in
several directions. To the west you can see Tuzla "like in the palm
of your hand," as they say in Bosnian. And to the northeast you can
see Bijeljina, the second-largest city in the Republika Srpska. The
air where we were standing was purer than it was anyplace that we
saw in the distance.
As we drove towards the town of Lopare, Andrijana described to me
the riches of traditional life on Majevica. There has been a
monastery there for centuries; a renewed church building is at least
200 years old. There are mineral springs. Farmers grow plums and
strawberries, and produce honey and cheese. Andrijana told me that
"anywhere you plant, something will grow there."
Andrijana outlined the history of lithium exploration on Majevica,
saying, "Foreigners want to come and extract lithium and other
minerals here in a cheap way. In 2002 Rio Tinto was here, digging,
and then they left, because they saw that there was not enough of a
water source to process the ore. So they went to Serbia. That
company had destroyed aboriginal land in Australia. Then in 2011 and
2012 a Canadian firm came, but they left, deciding it was not worth
it. Then in 2018,
Ćoćo
came."
Andrijana was referring by nickname to Stojan Stevanović, a Lopare
expatriate who had been living in Switzerland since before the war,
and had established himself well enough to become a hotel owner.
Aware that there was lithium in his home region, he saw a business
opportunity. As Andrijana described it,
Ćoćo brought
the Swiss mining company Arcore to Lopare, and the company received
a prospecting license. Arcore began exploration in 2020 and finished
in 2022. Andrijana referred to a law that affords the prospector two
years after finishing exploration until one is required to apply for
a concession for mining. This term expired, but the Republika Srpska
authorities extended the deadline until spring of 2025.
I asked Andrijana what I've asked everyone connected to the lithium
problem: Is there a way to extract the material without destruction
to the environment? She answered, "Yes, if it is extracted from
brine. But if it is done on land, they need to use sulfuric acid to
refine it, and the process releases arsenic. Boron is another
byproduct that can be harmful. It is never safe on land."
In some places, lithium is mined underground, and in others, it is
extracted from an open pit. I asked Andrijana how it would be mined
on Majevica. She answered, "No one knows. In Jadar
[in Serbia],
they don't know how to extract the ore; it would be an experiment.
No one can guarantee the outcome."
Due to the danger of contamination from lithium mining, residents of
Majevica and beyond began protesting when they learned of the
prospecting that was underway. As in other places, biologists
prepared to make a study of the biodiversity that exists in the
region. Andrijana referred to the
European Red List,
which catalogues species that are rare or under threat of extinction
in a given area. Activists want to ensure that species in the
Majevica region are included on this list.
Andrijana compared Bosnia-Herzegovina to the European Union, whose
Natura 2000
network lists and protects plants and animals throughout its member
countries. Natura 2000
cites
an average rate of habitat protection of over 26% in the EU, but in
Bosnia, it is
at most around 4%.
"People are saying, 'I am against the mining, but I can't do
anything,'" Andrija told me. But with colleagues and concerned
fellow activists of the region, she founded Udruženje Čuvari
Majevice, the Association of Guardians of Majevica, and she
encouraged people to be part of it.
Describing public round-tables in Lopare, she said, "In December of
2023, we held the first public discussion in Lopare. There were more
than 300 people present in Dom Kulture, the
community's cultural center. Among the attendants, there was tension
about lithium prospecting. Mayor Rado Savić came, and people booed
him for supporting the mine project. It was his first experience of
resistance from the people.
"Then after several days, municipal assembly member Milanko Tošić
resigned from his position in protest of the planned mining. He had
been an SDS councilman in the Lopare assembly. After that, people
started campaigning for Milanko to run for mayor.
Campaign headquarters of Milanko Tošić: "Say NO to
lithium mining"
"There were more public meetings, where we discussed establishing a
Nature Park. The third meeting was in Ugljevik, in February of 2024.
We posted billboards in Bijeljina, Brčko, and Tuzla. We worked
together with Karton Revolucija, Eko Put of Bijeljina, and several
other organizations. We cooperate with all groups; this is our
policy."
Members of Čuvari Majevice are concerned about what takes place
across the Drina in Serbia, where there has been strong and
widespread resistance to Rio Tinto's planned mining: "We are all
waiting to see what happens with Jadar. If the project starts in
Serbia, it will be started here; it's all connected. But we cannot
sit and do nothing. We cannot just let them get away with this,"
Andrijana said.
The idea of mining on Majevica is promoted as being good for the
economy in a depressed part of the country. Andrijana related to me
that Mayor Savić laments the impact that emigration has had on the
population of Majevica, and he said that they must open the area to
mining, which will "bring back 1,000 people." But Andrijana
discounts this as an inflated and unrealistic projection.
Andrijana asked Svetozar Ostojić, developer of the Eco-park Viva
Natura, to support the opposition to mining on Majevica. It would,
after all, be as ruinous to his park as to the rest of the land. But
he responded, "Who am I to get in the way of development here?"
Andrijana noted that Ostojić received a 100-year concession to run
the park, and she conjectured that he was promised compensation if
there were environmental damage from mining.
In Bosnia-Herzegovina, the entities, municipalities, and Cantons
adopt a Prostorni plan (Spatial Plan) that is set to last
between ten and twenty years. Spatial Plans cover protection of the
environment, use of natural resources and energy, social development
and cultural heritage, organization of available space, and
infrastructure in general. Andrijana noted that the Republika Srpska
Spatial Plan provides for the creation of a "Nature Park" in much of
the Majevica area, which would create a legal obstacle to mining.
Čuvari Majevice hopes to leverage this provision into a route to
obstruction to the mining. The RS Spatial Plan expires in 2025 and
chances are, Andrijana told me, "the government will make a new plan
without the park." But, she said, "if we make a proposal for a park,
then no mining can take place until this is resolved."
There has, of course, been pushback from the mining promoters all
along, especially from the higher levels of government above the
municipality. Local heavies tried to dissuade Andrijana from
organizing Čuvari Majevice. And ATV (Alternativna TV), President
Dodik's mouthpiece, attacked the association, "saying we were 'paid
by foreigners,' that we were 'working with Muslims,' and that we
want to hurt development in RS," as Andrijana told me.
But, Andrijana said, "I can't give up; it is for the children. If we
do not succeed in protecting Majevica via the Spatial Plan, we will
file a lawsuit in Brussels or Bonn. Or we will protest on the
streets as they have done in Serbia; there, they are arresting
pregnant women."
*
Around the time of the public discussions on lithium mining, in late
2023 and early 2024, Čuvari Majevice and environmentalist colleagues
from the broader region mounted the first of two petition campaigns.
The first petition called on the Republika Srpska National Assembly
(NSRS) to prohibit the opening of a lithium mine on Majevica. The
petition was only circulated in the Lopare area, in February 2024.
It received 3,700 signatures.
If the petition had been circulated further afield, in areas such as
Bijeljina and Ugljevik—both of which would be affected by pollution
coming from Majevica—it could have received many more signatures.
However, a combination of restrictive rules in the Republika Srpska
and probable obstruction prevented that outcome. According to
Andrijana, RS law limits the circulation of a petition to a
seven-day period. Furthermore, proponents of any petition must start
the proces by presenting a request to the authorities in Banja Luka,
who will then stamp each petition form.
While activists were preparing the petition, municipal elections
were looming. Citizens of Lopare were dissatisfied with Mayor
Savić's position supporting lithium mining, and they lobbied for
Milanko Tošić to declare his candidacy for mayor. Tošić had not been
angling for the position, but he entered the running in response to
public pressure.
At this point Mayor Savić witnessed a groundswell of opposition and
feared that he could lose power due to his support for lithium, so
he changed his position. He declared that he must stand with his
people and oppose the mining. In the October elections, Savić won
the campaign, garnering twice as many votes as Tošić.
Savić had insisted that he would organize the signature-gathering
for the petition in February. Activists surmise that he turned his
door-to-door canvasing on this project into a manner of electoral
campaigning. Since then, to this day he has publicly opposed lithium
mining—but no environmental activist I have talked to in the region
is confident in his sincerity.
In any case, in the spring of 2024 the NSRS deliberated on the
petition against mining on Majevica, and defeated it. The measure
received 21 "yes" votes. Out of a total of 83 representatives, only
64 were present for the vote.
In December 2024, regional activists, in cooperation with the
re-elected Mayor Savić, initiated a new petition calling for the
establishment of a Nature Park on Majevica. Andrijana stated that
"If Savić is really against the mine, then he will support a plan
for the Park."
Andrijana expected that with the petition being presented further
afield—from Brčko to Bijeljina and Ugljevik—it could receive far
more signatures. And after presentation of the petition, as long as
the question of a Nature Park is under consideration, Republika
Srpska law prohibits mining that could work against the
establishment of the Park.
*
Andrijana picked me up at my hotel in Lopare to go on an excursion
among the hills and villages of Majevica. As we left via the hotel
restaurant, five or six stout men in black suits were occupying a
table. Andrijana identified one of them as Petar Đokić, RS Minister
of Energy and Mining.
In an impoverished, out-of-the-way town like Lopare, the appearance
of such a Minister probably cannot be a good sign.
We drove up into the hills, passing villages with stone houses and
small elementary schools. Some of the villages are so depopulated
that the schools are no longer operating.
Census figures from
2013 show that Lopare municipality's 1991 population of 20,000 had
been reduced by 25%.
In 2020 Arcore began exploratory drilling here and there in the
hills of Majevica—sometimes with permission on people's private
lands, and sometimes surreptitiously, without permission. We were
going to visit the property of
Jovan Krsmanović in the nearby village of Vukosavci. On the way,
Andrijana showed me an illicit drilling site. At the bottom of a
sloped field there was a small puddle of mud with dirty water coming
out of it, draining into a ditch by the side of the road. Workers
had left metal containers and other garbage nearby.
We arrived at the property of Mr. Krsmanović and walked across some
fields to a place where Arcore had conducted exploratory drilling.
The company had guaranteed Krsmanović restoration if there were any
damaging consequences stemming from the exploration, so he gave
written permission to drill. The workers drilled down to a depth of
250 meters. A water well is usually about 15 meters deep, Andrijana
told me—or an artesian well can be more than 50 meters deep.
Six months after the exploratory drilling, Mr. Krsmanović's well
dried up, and trees and grass near the site died. It was apparent
that drilling resulted in the diversion of the underground water
from the area. A nearby well belonging to Krsmanović's neighbor
failed as well. They complained to Arcore, which sent out workers to
investigate the problem. The company declared that it could not be
proved that the problem was due to Arcore's exploration. Upon
discussing this during our visit, Mr. Krsmanović simply responded,
"That is a lie."
Now, Mr. Krsmanović and his neighbor have connected to the city
water system. But the water's quality is inferior, and service is
intermittent.
*
Čuvari Majevice and the environmentalist network of the surrounding
communities are not alone in their fight against mining in the hills
of Majevica. In September of 2024, the mayors of eight towns and
cities, from Lopare to Tuzla, and from Ugljevik to Brčko and
Bijeljina, signed a public letter in opposition to extraction of
lithium.
In the
letter,
the mayors declared, "We expressly object to the opening of a
lithium mine...on Majevica. Opening of the mine can cause
irreparable damage to the people and environment, and endanger the
survival of the population in these areas...The repercussions to
health are truly great, as has been proven...Tourism and lithium do
not go together; agriculture and the health of the water will be
endangered. Life in that radius will not be possible."
The signers of the letter vowed to work together in the future, and
to contest all attempts at mining on Majevica "in the interest of
preservation of the lives of the inhabitants and of the natural
riches of this area."
*
Postscript:
As I wrote this journal, news came out that the coal-burning power
plant at Ugljevik was shut down for lack of fuel. Notwithstanding
the billions of tons of accessible coal in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the
administration of the power plant announced that it had only two
days' coal reserves. A
news report on this emergency noted that in the past year, the
Republika Srpska has exported 1.6 billion KM (more than a billion
dollars) worth of coal.
Much of this coal, as earlier mentioned, goes to Serbia. The news
report, titled "Serdarovu ugalj, Ugljeviku jalovina" (Coal to
Sardarov, tailings to Ugljevik), quotes a worker at the power plant
as saying, "For every truckload of coal they send us, we get nine
truckloads of tailings. They are sending the better part of it to
Rashid Sardarov."
Sardarov, originally from Daghestan, is a Russian billionaire
oligarch and controller of the South Ural Industrial Group. He owns
massive farms in Namibia, and an $84 million yacht moored in Monaco.
Sardarov's Comsar Energy Group Ltd has been involved in power plant
development proposals in Bosnia for
over ten years, and he
collaborates closely with people in RS President Dodik's inner
circle.
While the temporary closure of the Ugljevik coal plant is good for
the environment, it is bad for residents of the town. Their
electricity has been shut off, giving me further reason to feel
sorry for the citizens of Ugljevik. Andrijana wrote me, "We are
freezing in our apartment, because we have no heating. The Ugljevik
power plant has stopped working. They are out of coal...though where
they have some, they have given it to Dodik's Rashid Sardarov. So
they are not producing electricity, and thus there is no heating for
the municipality of Ugljevik.
"This is yet another proof of the corruption of the politicians in
power, who want to destroy one of the few profitable companies that
is in the hands of the state. They want to drive it into bankruptcy,
to reduce its market value so that it can be purchased more cheaply
by private hands, that is, politicians in the government.
The situation is alarming, but neither the media nor the public are
speaking about this, which is yet another proof of the involvement
of high political figures."