The Minister of Mining and Energy, Zorana Mihajlovic, stated that the value of the mineral wealth of our country is more than 200 billion US dollars.
In an interview for a special issue of Cord magazine dedicated to mining, Mihajlovic explained that this wealth should contribute to economic development and growth – to be responsible for the environment, but also to see the effects of that in the state budget.
According to her, the goal is to attract new investments to Serbia and that in three years the share of mining in GDP will be approximately 4% instead of 1.9%, according to the website of the Government of Serbia.
– In addition, we want the development of mining to be sustainable and that everything that is done in this area is done respecting the regulations and the highest standards in the field of environment – the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized.
– Mining is a sector that has been on the sidelines completely undeservedly for a long time. We want to correct this injustice, because there is much more potential in that area than has been used today – she pointed out.
As she mentioned, the Ministry has prepared a draft of amendments to the Law on Mining and Geological Research, which wants to create conditions for Serbia to get a modern and much more successful mining sector.
She pointed out that one of the goals of the amendments to the laws in the field of mining and energy is to transfer the e-permit system, due to which Serbia is ninth in the world today in issuing construction permits on the World Bank’s “Doing Business List”, to energy and mining.
Reforms of e-energy and e-mining, as she assessed, will bring great changes not only in energy, but also in mining, where the digital procedure in mining in obtaining documentation is being introduced for the first time.
According to her, that means that permits will be issued in shorter terms, on average from the current 150 days to about 15 days, and that investors will be able to follow exactly at what stage their procedure is.
Mihajlovic emphasized that neither mining, nor energy, can progress without new investments, as well as that it is especially important that everything that is done is harmonized with the regulations in the field of environmental protection.
– Our task is to create conditions for that, to have clear and transparent procedures, equal for all investors, and for the state’s interest to be protected, for example when it comes to taking care of mineral resources – she pointed out.
Also, as she added, the same applies to renewable energy sources, where the goal is to better use this potential, which, together with investment in increasing energy efficiency, should enable us to get approximately 50% of electricity production by 2050 from renewable sources, eKapija reports.
Source: serbia-business.eu
