At an extraordinary session of the Municipal Council of Gevgelija, held on Friday, March 9, the request for continuation of geological research at Kozuf by the company Reservoir Minerals DOEL Skopje was unanimously rejected. This is the second negative answer from Gevgelians after the referendum “No” for exploring metallic mineral raw materials on the mountain Kozuf.
The council was informed that the company received a concession for detailed geological research at this location in 2013, and after the expiration of the original four-year deadline, it is now requesting an extension of the deadline for research for another two years, in accordance with the Mineral Resources Act.
Regarding the session, the board discussed the company’s request to extend the deadline for research on Friday. The Mayor of Gevgelija, Tashko Dojčinov, in order to be full of transparency, emphasized the possibility of an attendance of the Council representative of the company. The request for the continuation of the survey before the councilors was explained by the Director of the Minerals Reservoir Daniela Bambol. She said that all legal provisions and global standards for environmental protection will be respected.
The one-hour discussion of the Council resulted in the conclusion that the Ministry of Economy and the Government should declare unilateral termination of the concession contract, considering that, according to the report on the performed geological researches of mineral raw materials at the Konjsko, in the period 2013 – 2017, as well as the Ministry of field inspection report, the concessionaire had no obstacles to completes research within the legal deadline.
The Gevgelija Municipality Council said in a statement that it expects the Ministry of Economy and Government to fully respect the position of the Council on giving negative opinion on the request for granting a concession for the continuation of geological explorations on the mountain Kozuf.
