Prishtina, 20.05.2022 – A meeting to discuss the mining sector in the Republic of Kosovo was held under the chairmanship of the Deputy Minister of Economy, Mentor Arifaj.

The meeting was attended by the Director of the Department of Mines at the ME, Skender Sallahi, the Management Board of Public Enterprise “Trepça”, the representatives of the Board and Management of the Independent Commission for Mines and Minerals (ICMM), and the experts in the field of mining.

The purpose of the meeting was to discuss zones of special mining interest, public-private partnerships in the mining sector, as well as mining and industrial waste.

Deputy Minister Arifaj stated that we should make our best efforts to strengthen this important sector of Kosovo’s economy in order to create new jobs, and as stated by him, this could be achieved through the strengthening of the 11 zones of special interest that Kosovo has.

Deputy Minister Arifaj also emphasized that Trepça has a large amount of mineral waste that has been accumulated since the 30s of the last century, which has the potential to be an activity that could bring benefits to the Public Enterprise “Trepça”, but also the environmental opportunities must be addressed, because those wastes over a certain period of time can cause environmental problems.

 Mr. Arifaj also stated that the Government of Kosovo aims to create a Sovereign Fund, which envisages the transfer of all profitable enterprises to the Sovereign Fund, and in the future, through the adoption of the Law will also be defined the transfer of “Trepça” to the Sovereign Fund, but the transfer to this fund would neither stop its cooperation with interested partners, the treatment of mineral waste, nor the development of the zones of special interest.