Western Balkans Environment Programe

The representatives of the Government of Montenegro, the Royal Netherlands Embassy, the Municipality of Mojkovac, the Public Works Agency and the UNDP Montenegro visited the tailing mine impound, where the Project of remediation and recultivation is under the process.The high officials and the representatives of the Municipality of Mojkovac expressed their satisfaction with the work carried out so far.

On that occasion Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration, Ms. Gordana Đurović said: "It is a pleasure for me to conclude that the results of the remediation of the impound are visible. We expect this process to be finalised by the end of 2010. This project reaffirms good cooperation between Montenegro and donor community and international organisations, such as UNDP and our important partners in the European Union, such as the Governments of the Netherlands and Czech Republic. It also represents affirmation of a good cooperation between local authorities and Governmental institutions. This project contributes to the solving of ecological issues, and it creates a basis for economic development of this region." She added that 2,5 million Euros for remediation of the impound would be included in the capital budget of Montenegro for 2009, and in this way the Government of Montenegro will continue fulfilling its commitment in line with the project dynamics. "Beside the UNDP which is present in other sectors as well, we consider as very important the overall contribution of the Government of the Netherlands in the second phase of the impound remediation project, as well as the fact that the Government of the Netherlands entrusted Montenegro to coordinate the Western Balkans Environmental Programme at the regional level," said Deputy Prime Minister Đurović.

H.E. Mr. Ronald J. P. M. van Dartel, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands announced that the Government of the Netherlands allocated 2,2 million out of total 15 million dollars for the remediation of the impound in Mojkovac. "We are investing in solving of these ecological hot spots because clean environment is an important precondition for the welfare of current and future generations. Healthy and reliable environmental protection policy for this region, particularly in Montenegro, implies stimulation of economic activities, such as development of tourism and agriculture. There is a direct corellation between development of this region and our activities within the Regional Programme. I hope that we are also creating a higher level of consciousness on how much is important that we deal with ecological problems," said Ambassador van Dartel.

Ambassador van Dartel reminded that the status of Montenegro as a potential candidate for accession to the EU and Euro-Atlantic Alliance implies adequate environmental protection. "Compliance of environmental legislation with the European and international regulations is one of the challenges. I hope that I have expressed on behalf of the Government of the Netherlands an obvious wish to be partners in that job because we are cooperating with Montenegro in many sectors. We want cooperation to become even broader in the domain of environmental protection but in other sectors as well," Ambassador van Dartel concluded.

Mr. Alexander Avanesov, UNDP Resident Represendative/UN Resident Coordinator in Montenegro reminded all that Lead and Zinc Mine "Brskovo" used to employ at least one person from every family that lived in Mojkovac up until its closing in 1991. "Once shut down, the mine left a source of pollution and ecological disaster of unknown proportions to both the city and its inhabitants and the World Heritage Site of river Tara, and it acted as a hurdle to foreign investment in the municipality. The UNDP has set out to leverage the donation from the Dutch Government to attract private investors and equip the municipality to access European funding in order to develop Mojkovac into a prosperous city whose sustainable development is based on protection and preservation of its unique ecosystem and biodiversity," explained Mr. Avanesov. 

"The technical remediation of the Tailing Mine Impound (TMI) and its transformation into a tourism and recreational area will hopefully be completed in the next two years thereby turning the ecological threat into an development opportunity and creating a basis for growth of tourism and agriculture- two alternative sources of revenue generation that UNDP and municipality identified through the policy integration assessment," said Mr. Avanesov.