The Minister of Economy, Kreshnik Bekteshi, yesterday sent a letter to the Centre for Development of the South-East Planning Region, namely, to the municipalities where referendums have been held (Gevgelia, Bogdanci and Dojran), and to the Municipality of Valandovo where a referendum is to be held on August 20.
In the letter it is said that the procedures for granting concessions for the opening of mines are carried out according to the legal provisions, and that means that the opinion of all relevant institutions has been requested prior to the granting of concessions, among which also of the municipalities in whose territory the concessions are located. Positive opinions have been received from the municipalities for the granting of concessions for conducting geological research and for the exploitation of mineral resources.
“In the Law on Mineral Resources, and also in the Law on Concessions and Public-Private Partnership, there is no basis for a one-sided termination of the concession agreement by the grantor, that is the Government of RM, due to a realized referendum or a civic initiative, against the start of exploitation of already granted concessions for exploitation of mineral resources. In the direction of finally resolving this issue, the Government of RM as a grantor, together with the Ministry of Economy in cooperation with all stakeholders, will first have to provide expert opinions and analyses, and then find a solution within the framework of the law”, is stated in the letter from Minister Bekteshi.
The Ministry of Economy has made an analysis of the legal provisions that regulate this issue and henceforth emphasizes that this is not an opinion of the Ministry.
“Having in consideration that according to the legal provisions, the Government of the Republic of Macedonia is the grantor, while the Ministry of Economy is a body of the state administration responsible for performing the works in the field of mineral resources, the final reply and position in regards to this issue must come from the Government, a more precise solution will have to be found between the Government, the Ministry of Economy and the remaining stakeholders”, is stated in the letter.
Jovan Dzalev Jovan Dzalev, one of the initiators of the Referendum in Bogdanci, told CIVIL Media that the letter from the Ministry of Economy says nothing new.
“We are aware that the referendums do not have a binding character. The second paragraph of the letter to me is much more important. He says that the referendums will not solve the matter, but that the Ministry will yet have to start working on finding a solution in cooperation with all stakeholders. Whether it will mean paying penalties, or taking away A-permits, or another solution will be found, that is a matter of the Ministry, we are here to help”, says Dzalev.
He outlined that he sees this letter as a kind of pressure, and an attempt for the Referendum in Valandovo this month not to succeed. “These are the well-known lobby groups, it is all clear to us, they are already working, but the initiatives will be successful!”, stated Dzalev.
The announcements of several initiatives against the mines speak that the citizens will not be demotivated with such a letter. The Initiative “Save Kozjacia”, which is actively working on stopping the possible construction of a mine in Staro Nagoricane, but has also promised support to the initiatives of the Southeast, wrote on its Facebook profile:
“The referendum is the most powerful weapon of democracy. Not a single government, in a democratic society can go contrary to the referendum decision, which is an expression of the will of the citizens. Especially when it is about the most important things: life, health and environment. Although the Government of RM has still not publicly taken an official position in terms of the referendum decisions on opening the mines of death, we emphasize that no matter what obstacle we should face, that we will be decisive and determined and will go to the end, we will not allow the opening of a mine of death close to our homes. We sincerely hope that the Government will respect
the will of the citizens”. The initiative “Health Valley” refers to Article 2 of the Law on Referendums that states: “A decision made by a referendum for deciding is obligatory”.
Hence, they say that as stakeholders they are giving their expert participation as of now, and that they consider such an announcement as an intentional provocation that has the aim to perform demotivation and psychological obstruction for the upcoming referendum in Valandovo and Strumica (Bosilovo and Novo Selo).
Referendums were held in the Southeast in Gevgelia, Bogdanci and Dojran. CIVIL – Center for Freedom was observing all three referendums, which went without any major problems. Following the referendum in Bogdanci, the Municipality withdrew the decision for the mine in Kazandol. In Gevgelia and Bogdanci minor technical inconsistencies were noted, while in Dojran CIVIL’s monitoring teams noted pressure on the residents not to go and vote at the referendum and for it to be declared unsuccessful. The turnout was lower than expected until the very end of the referendum, which questioned its success. The final figures showed a turnout of just 25 citizens more than the required half of the population!
CIVIL will also be monitoring the referendum in Valandovo that will be held on August 20, where the initiators of the referendum are expecting fierce pressures on the population by the local government, for boycotting the referendum.
Referendums have also been announced in the Strumica municipalities of Bosilovo and Novo Selo, for which the councils of the municipalities are yet to decide.
Маја Ivanovska
