Public still doesn’t have complete and up-to-date data – What about the mining waste registry?

The data that, according to a project, should have been publicly available on the website katastarrudraskogotpada.rs, according to the European Commission, are available in paper form and with a request for access to information of public importance. The Ministry of Mining and Energy says that seven permits for mining waste management have been issued since 2023 and denies some of the EC’s allegations.

The mining waste registry website at katastarrudarskogotpada.rs has not contained any information for the purpose for which it was created for weeks.

Instead of data on mining waste at the planned 250 locations, the only page contains information about what this site is (was) intended for.

As previously officially stated, the mining waste registry is a project whose goal is to further develop and improve the mining waste management system in the Republic of Serbia through the creation of an inventory - the mining waste registry. The registry is planned to be created in the form of an online application and a book and to contain risk assessment, characterization and classification of mining waste.

EUR 2.1 million has been allocated for the site and the registry as a system, that is, for the entire project, of which 90 percent was allocated by the European Union (EU) and the rest by the Government of Serbia. It has not provided the expected information, to the extent planned, since it started working in 2020.

The Ministry of Mining and Energy said at the time that Serbia “has gained a clear insight regarding mining waste,” “which forms the basis for analyzing the state of the environment and planning further steps in terms of resolving the issue of mining waste.”

Instead of detailed data on 250 locations, the site, while it was in operation, contained data from 41 locations. In the meantime, the amount of information has been reduced. According to a 2024 study by the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN), data on whether a specific location contains hazardous or non-hazardous waste, the amount of hazardous waste, and whether the landfill has been recultivated are missing.

On this occasion, the European Commission (EC) responded to N1 that, based on the information currently available to the Commission, the mining waste registry remains publicly available through a dedicated web portal, which they say is “one of the key results of the project.” Practically, it is a page within the Ministry of Mining and Energy with a small amount of relevant information.

As the EC stated, instead of online, the information can be available on paper and upon request.

The Commission states that, according to them, the project produced “a comprehensive registry in paper form containing detailed technical information,” and that this documentation is “a public document and is available in accordance with the Law on Free Access to Information of Public Importance of the Republic of Serbia.”

Vlada Republike Srbije

Ministarstvo rudarstva i energetike Republike Srbije

RERI

Government of Serbia

Ministry of Mining and Energy

European Commission

mining waste

mining waste registry