Mitrovica, 20.02.2023 – A solemn ceremony was held today in Stantërg to commemorate the 34^th anniversary of the Strike of the Miners of Trepça, attended by the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, and the Minister of Economy, Artane Rizvanolli.

Remembering the 1989 strike, Prime Minister Kurti stated that through their actions the miners were defending Kosovo from the discriminatory and oppressive policies of Serbian dictator Slobodan Milosevic and efforts to revoke Kosovo’s autonomy. He added that for eight days, until February 28, 1989, the eighth and ninth horizons of the Stantërg mine, over a thousand meters underground, became political fronts that shook the whole Yugoslavia.

Meanwhile, Minister Rizvanolli emphasized that during this month, our country is celebrating major events from its past, starting with the commemoration of the Reçak massacre, continuing with the celebration of the 15^th anniversary of independence, and ending in March with the 25^th anniversary of the Liberation Army’s epic, and today we mark another event as historic and as essential for our Republic.

 

Full speech of Prime Minister Kurti:

Last night when I returned to Pristina at the Adem Jashari International Airport, the first news I received was “Trepça won”. So, allow me to congratulate Trepça basketball club for their victory last night and the Kosovo Cup. I remember that the Trepça basketball club had won exactly 30 years ago in 1993, and then became champions several times after liberation, but last night’s victory was extraordinary and valuable for all of us, not only for Trepça and  Mitrovica.

 

Honorable Minister of Economy, Ms. Artana Rizvanolli,

Honorable Mayor of Mitrovica, Mr. Bedri Hamza,

Honorable Chairman of the Board of Trepça, Mr. Bahri Hyseni,

Honorable Members of the Assembly of the Republic, Armend Muja, Arjeta Fejza, and Armend Zemaj,

Honorable Deputy Minister Agron Dobruna,

Honorable Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Enis Abdurrahmani,

Dear miners,

Brothers and sisters,

Ladies and gentlemen,

 

These days, as we marked the 15^th anniversary of our state, the key word in every speech was “Republic of Kosovo”. It was the subject of all our congratulations. However, the Republic of Kosovo as a state began with “Kosovo Republic” as a slogan. And as I was thinking of coming here among you today at Stantërg, to commemorate together the strike of Trepça miners on its 34^th anniversary, I remembered that the slogan “Kosovo Republic” could also remind us of this anniversary of the miners’ strike in 1989. Because the slogan “Kosovo Republic”, along with the slogan “Trepça is ours” and other slogans, was written on the walls of the workers’ canteen exactly on 28 September 1983, by Trepça miners Xhavit Bajraktari and Shyqri Miftari.

Five years later, wanting to thwart Serbia’s future steps that were increasing political repression against Albanians, leading to the suppression of Kosovo’s autonomy, on the morning of 17 November 1988, Trepça miners gathered here in Stantërg and, dressed in miner uniforms, marched 52 kilometers on foot to Prishtina to express their opposition, shouting “Long live the working class”. In just a few years, the mining community of Mitrovica with the Trepça miners was transformed from a group of workers, out of whose hard work, unjustly and disproportionately, Yugoslavia was being built, into a politically organized professional collective, from which the breakup of Yugoslavia and the regime of Milosevic began.

As the Provincial Committee of Kosovo at the time did not respond to the miners’ demands, on 20 February 1989, around 13:00 hrs, the fourth shift miners did not come out of the mine, going on a hunger strike. The miners of three other shifts also joined the strike, and thus about 1300 miners of Trepça went on strike articulating 10 demands, among which the eighth was: “that the fate of the Albanians in Kosovo and Yugoslavia be considered by the United Nations”. Thus, this was a call by the miners on behalf of all Albanians to internationalize the issue of Kosovo where apartheid was starting to emerge by Serbia.

Basically, the miners were protecting Kosovo from the discriminatory and oppressive policies of the rising Serbian dictator Slobodan Milosevic towards Kosovo and the attempt to revoke Kosovo’s autonomy.

For the next eight days, until 28 February 1989, the eighth and ninth horizons of the horizons of the Stantërg mine, located about a thousand meters underground, converged in political fronts that shook all of Yugoslavia.

Raised on the forced principle of “Brotherhood and Unity” and unjustly dominated up to exploitation by Serbia, that structure called Yugoslavia had just embarked on the inexorable road to its collapse. The 1300 striking miners of Trepça were the first 1300 soldiers to start the fight, which after a decade resulted into the liberation of Kosovo, although the historical context of the time was very, very complex.

Despite the fact that the miners were deceived and their demands were not met, the strike of the miners of Trepça produced its effects beyond the expectations of the time. Before they came out from the eighth horizon, the miners’ final appeal had been a call to end fratricide and to reconcile the blood feud. On 1 March 1989, on the first day after the strike, the Serbian authorities closed the mine and arrested 15 people who were imprisoned for 14 months. Three weeks later, on 23 March 1989, Kosovo’s autonomy was suppressed, while in the following months, thousands of Albanians were fired from their jobs. The era of apartheid and segregation had begun and would continue until the liberation of 1999, which was a liberation by the Kosovo Liberation Army, supported by NATO, against the occupation and invasion of Serbia.

Now 34 years have passed since the strike, 24 years since the war, and 15 years since the declaration of independence. Soon it will be two years since this new government of ours has taken on the task of preserving the people’s property, bringing justice to the country, and opening the way to development and prosperity.

For two years, we have worked hard with all that we could and knew. We have especially engaged in public enterprises. We have supported them to fight crime and corruption from within, to overcome financial difficulties, to catch up with the market and to improve their performance and thus their results. In these two years, we have seen progress at Trepça. The new management of the enterprise has increased production and revenues, reduced operating expenses, and established order and discipline in the workplace.

In the past two years, revenues of Trepça have increased by 50% compared to the years 2018-2020. They were 14 to 15 million euros in 2018-2020, and now they are 21 to 22 million euros.

During the past year only, revenues from lead and zinc concentrate increased by 11%, while operating expenses decreased by 15% compared to the previous year. Thus, losses have also decreased from 2 to 5 million euros on an annual basis in the past, to 690 thousand euros in 2021, and only 126 thousand euros in 2022.

Trepça has also increased revenues from other sources. During the past year, it became the main supplier of Regional Water Companies with Aluminum Sulfate, increasing revenues from the sale of this product by 152%. Since November 2021, Trepça has been generating additional revenue for itself while serving the country’s economy through the Public Customs Terminal, which offers lower tariffs for the private sector.

As a government, we have supported Trepça with subsidies for capital investments and to cope  with the energy crisis, 8.2 million euros in 2021 and 8.3 million euros in 2023. But we still have work to do together – for Trepça and for the mining industry of Kosovo.

This year is the time for investments in new technology, which increases production efficiency, raises operational and financial performance of the company, improves working conditions, and creates new jobs. Investments that have not been made for almost half a century – production machinery and new flotation – will happen during our governance.

As we remember the 1989 strike of Trepça miners, 34 years later, recalling its former capacities and raising the level of current work, the challenge for everyone for Trepça and especially for our government is to turn a giant that is considered dormant into a source of mineral wealth that raises from the underground the levels of all stages of work of this company, beyond any memory or history for this paradise on earth.

Our land and underground are our common fate, and miners are at the center of our history, present, and future. Therefore, Happy Miners’ Day and good luck!

Thank you!

 

The full speech of Minister Rizvanolli:

 

Honorable Prime Minister,

Honorable Members of Parliament, Deputy Minister Dobruna,

Honorable Mayor Mr. Hamza,

Honorable Chairman of the Board Mr. Hyseni, honorable Members of the Board,

Honorable Deputy Chief Executive Officer Mr. Abdurrahmani,

Honorable miners,

Ladies and gentlemen,

During this month, our country is commemorating its major past events. We started with the memory of the Reçak massacre, continued with the celebration of the 15^th anniversary of independence, and will conclude in March with the 25^th anniversary of the epic of the Kosovo Liberation Army. Today we mark another event as historic and crucial for our Republic.

Our miner is mentioned many times in history. 2415 years ago, a miner named Bardhyl led the workers in rebellion against a king who denied them their sweat. Much has changed in this country over these thousands of years. But we find the name Bardhyl again in the families of miners, and the miners are once again the masters of this country.

The first miners stood up to Serbia when it threatened Kosovo with enslavement. They did not accept that our people would lose the few rights they had. On 20 February 1989, they gathered in the underground horizons to oppose the removal of autonomy. They did not split up or submit to evil, and with their determination, they attracted the attention of the civilized world. “The Trepça mines are defending the rights of citizens […] in Kosovo to choose their own leadership”, said the leader of Slovenia, Millan Kucan, at the time.

Today we remember that great event: the miners’ strike. We also remember their sacrifice over the years for the freedom and state that we enjoy today. Our miners served the country with their work clothes and the uniform of the Kosovo Liberation Army. At least 130 miners fell as martyrs, as freedom fighters in the forefront of the war and as unarmed citizens killed in Serbia’s massacres against civilians. May their memory not be forgotten!

Meanwhile, the Trepça miners have worked continuously, contributing to the economic and social development of Mitrovica and the entire country.

We are happy and proud of Trepça’s achievements during these two years and pledge to continue to support Trepça on its path to modernize technology, increase efficiency, and improve the well-being of workers.

Trepça shall be a company that is governed by the highest standards, detached from daily politics but closely connected to the interests of growth and its own workers. The miners will have their say in the company’s governance, while the company will benefit from additional capital and growing power.

 

Thus, together, we will achieve the target we have set for ourselves in our government program. We will use our natural resources wisely. We will maintain and increase Trepça and publicly owned enterprises as our assets. And we will develop the mining sector with a “reasonable economic, technological, social, and environmental” approach.

We shall achieve this through our commitment as a government and your dedication as tireless workers, as miners-owners of Trepça and as pioneers of the Republic of Kosovo. The road is difficult, but believe me, we have already passed the most difficult part.

 

Happy Miners Day! Good Luck!