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The dean of the Faculty of Forestry at the University of Belgrade, Ratko Ristic, assessed that the construction of mini hydroelectric power plants (MHE) in Serbia began with a “dilettante approach, based on documents from the eighties”, that its development was seen stopped exclusively by local activism and not by state intervention.
He, as a guest at Utisak Nedelja, stated that the construction of 856 SHPP, as envisaged in said plan of the last century, would provide Serbia between two and three percent of the energy, but to destroy “rivers that are carriers of a mountainous and mountainous biodiversity “.
“(The SHPP construction) is carried out so that a small group of investors and equipment suppliers and (other members) of that interest group benefit. They are still paid between 10 and 14 euro cents per kilowatt-hour , and so far they have been paid for electricity from renewable energy sources, 50 to 60 million euros. We all pay for that, and nobody asked the citizens of Serbia if they wanted to pay for it, “said Ristic.
According to him, the State must exclusively promote “what brings a clear public benefit.”
Ristic believes that it is encouraging that the pressure for the construction of the SHPP has decreased, but that it must be formalized and articulated through laws.
“Poor forest in the Jadar project”
Speaking about Rio Tinto’s ‘Jadar’ project, which plans to produce lithium near Loznica, the dean of the faculty said it would cover more than 2,000 hectares of land, and that the project would raise between seven and eight million euros annually “miserable sum.”
“It is a miserable sum for the loss of so much land … We still do not know what impact (the project) will have on the environment. It would take away the right of the company to order an Environmental Impact Assessment Study,” Ristic said. that Serbia draw up the document with the help of independent experts.
Aleksandar Jovanović Ćuta from the association “Let’s defend the rivers of Stara Planina” asked the state leaders to present to the public the experiences of the countries where the company carried out the excavations.
“Those scenes are apocalyptic. They destroyed 46,000-year-old Aboriginal caves with dynamite, mercilessly. They are people who only see profits in our rivers and nature … We have to make a plan, we have no more time to wait, we know who is poisoning the air. that puts rivers in our pipes. During that time, our forests are disappearing, our drinking water is disappearing, “said Jovanović.
He added that in the four years he has been involved in activism against the construction of SHPP, “everyone from academics to pastors” has come out.
“Last year, SANU organized a symposium, dozens of studies were carried out, and those who live off its rivers, who were not asked anything. (Investors) must see with whom they agreed, the law, the legal profession, the natural sciences. “If all of that is not in accordance with the law and disturbs the environment, the people who live there are also wondering,” Jovanović said.
“Serbia commits to reducing emissions”
Dragana Djordjevic, Scientific Advisor to the Institute of Chemistry, stated that Serbia committed in the Paris Agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but that of all the options for renewable energy sources, it applied only the construction of SHPP, which could jeopardize water supplies.
He said that he became interested in the topic in 2018, when he was working on the investigation of the water supply problem in Vlasotince.
“With 15 of the 55 planned SHPs built in the Vlasotince area (that municipality), it had problems with the water supply,” Djordjevic said, adding that environmental goals must be achieved first by increasing energy efficiency.
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