Final month, Serbia, the European Union and Germany signed a sequence of agreements granting EU members and a number of the continent’s most necessary carmakers unique entry to Serbian lithium.
The agreements, masking sustainable uncooked supplies and battery provide chains, got here solely per week after Serbia’s prime court docket dominated that Belgrade’s resolution to revoke Rio Tinto’s licence for the $2.4 billion Jadar lithium undertaking in 2022 was unconstitutional.
“There can be no digging, no modifications within the area, nor will there be. Till we get all of the ensures ourselves, nothing will occur within the subsequent 12 to 18 months,” Vučić stated.
“They deceive you on daily basis. They mislead you on daily basis. We have now to gather all of the documentation, and we’ll invite the perfect specialists from overseas, however we may also take the perfect Serbian specialists in environmental safety, those that can assure that each one individuals can be completely secure,” he added.
Hundreds took to the streets throughout Serbia on Monday to protest towards the undertaking and the lately signed settlement with the European Union.
Protests have been held concurrently in cities like Šabac, Kraljevo, Aranđelovac, Ljig and Barajevo.
If accomplished, the Jadar undertaking can be Europe’s largest lithium mine, with a manufacturing of 58,000 tonnes of refined battery-grade lithium carbonate per 12 months, sufficient to energy a million electrical autos and provide 90% of the continent’s present lithium wants.
Jadar would additionally propel Rio Tinto onto the world’s prime 10 lithium producers’ listing.