PRESS CONFERENCE FOR 2017

Date: 21.12.2017

             Independent Commission for Mines and Minerals held a press conference today where the challenges and achievements during 2017 were presented.

Chairman of the Board, Musa Shabani emphasized in front of media that Kosovo is a country known with reserves of energy, metallic, industrial and construction minerals. However, due to circumstances of state creation and as well the Laws for its functioning it is still working to find the best way for their valorization. It has been continuously emphasized that the mining sector is one of the most important sectors for the economic development of the country, however despite some of the continuous achievements, it has not been achieved yet this sector to contribute to the desired extent in the economic development of the country.

It is emphasized as well that there isn’t an adequate legal base for energy minerals to encourage the exploitation of this resource – except exploitation of lignite for the need of production of electricity to supply Kosovo by Law on Mines and Minerals, there is another possibility for licenses for energy minerals to be issued through a bid procedure that it has resulted a very complicated one. Regarding the metallic minerals, ICMM has issued 89 licenses for exploration of metallic minerals, where only 7 licenses are active for exploitation of metallic minerals. Four of them are Trepça licenses, two of Newco Ferronikel and one license for chrome. Unlike the exploitation of metallic minerals and energy minerals, the exploitation of construction and industrial minerals has marked an increase with high dynamics, supporting the development of road infrastructure and building the country. ICMM has issued 146 licenses for exploitation of hard rock, 15 licenses for industrial minerals and 20 licenses for exploitation of sand and gravel.

As real challenges and that have a direct impact on the creation of the stability of the mining sector and in the sustainable development of the mining sector remain:

1. Trepça status
2. Special zones of interest promulgated by Government
3. Energy minerals – lignite – the lack of adequate legal base to encourage use of this resource.
4. Problems with informal economy in mining sector remain a challenge for the ICMM Inspectorate. According to our evaluations, its impact in mining sector is less than 10% however it remains a challenge the fight and inter-institutional cooperation to prevent and prohibit the informal economy in the mining sector. The ICMM has filed this year more than 70 denunciations and criminal charges for this phenomenon in the justice bodies.

Chairman Shabani told in front of media that ICMM has managed to carry out revenue planning where 30,925,024.07€ have been collected until now as a result of cooperation with the representatives of the enterprises. Concerning debts, the ICMM since its establishment, has been faced with not good phenomenon, that of royalty. Many licensed businesses are failing to pay the obligations for royalty payment, which it is causing debts to the ICMM, and consequently to the Kosovo state.

Almost half of the total debt of businesses to the ICMM is Trepça’s debt. We are obliged to initiate as well court procedure to many companies to collect debt.

And it was emphasized in the end that from what was yesterday, today the mining sector in Kosovo is at a more advanced and more developed level, despite the many difficulties we have. Yes, it is working unstoppably to create better conditions for business development, also for mining sector, in order to create a sustainable economic development that will be in the service of our welfare and it will create even better conditions for the future generations.