Interview with Slobodan Đurić

Read our new interview with Mr.Slobodan Djuric.

First of all, let me greet you and thank you for agreeing to the interview as part of the "Living History Project" of the Eastern Mining. To begin, tell us a little more about yourself.
My name is Slobodan Đurić and I come from the Duboštica village. I returned to my property in 1996 and rebuilt it with my own hands with the help of good people. My professors are also creditable for it, they gave me knowledge about medicinal herbs and preparations based on apiphytes, honey and herbs. In order for a person to engage in this work, the first and basic thing is education, without knowledge it is difficult to achieve anything, and the second thing is, of course, the will. You have to love your job to be successful. By chance, I found my uncle's notebook, in which he wrote down his grandmother's prescriptions for the treatment of certain diseases in handwriting. According to those recipes, and with the help of my professor, who supported me, we made Bronhomed, which is already known and recognized outside the borders of Bosnia and Herzegovina. I just moved on from this product and founded my own farm called Eko-farma.

How did you come up with the idea to found the Eko-farm?
The idea came by chance, where I need to mention the same professor again. He traveled with his family along the Krivaja river valley and mistakenly turned onto the road that leads to Vareš. Realizing that they had gone the wrong way, they asked me for directions as they passed by my house. I was very happy to host them, as our household custom dictates, and explained where to go next over a coffee. The professor, who is very interested in our region because of the purity and beauty of untouched nature, invited me to the Institute and encouraged me to start production, which has been going on for 23 years. People are overloaded with information from all sides, while for me the farm represents a therapeutic oasis, where the plants relax me and I feel easiness.

Given that you are engaged in sales, we are interested in how far your product has been sent?
He even reached New Zealand!

Can you tell us what was your first job?
I graduated traffic technical school, but in the meantime there was no work, so I have also graduated trade school. I got a job at Velepromet, where I worked for 12 years as a trader. Afterwards, I worked as a traffic technician in Željezara, till war events, when most of the population left Vareš. 

When you look at life in the area of Vareš municipality, then and now, can you make a comparison?
Vareš was an industrial center where residents of all municipalities of the former Yugoslavia came to make for a living. Life was completely different, people lived normally and without stress. Every year they went to the summer vacation and there was no crisis like now. Simply different times, some things are better today and some were better before. You know how, at times you weren't allowed to talk much, but people were working hard, while today it's the other way around, people talk a lot and have no work to do.

When the mine and the Ironworks were working, have the environment and the laws of the time been respected?
The environment was not taken care of, and the managers of the mines and steelworks did what they wanted to do. It should be noted that a large area was degraded without subsequent land cultivation. Today, on the other hand, I see that surfaces are being restored. Generally speaking, I see people being offered the opportunity to re-cultivate fields where the current mine operation has a direct impact.

Are you familiar with the mining project in Veovača and Rupice?
I often came to Borovica, I am familiar with that area, while I was not in locality of Rupice, and the main source of information about the project comes from the media and social networks. I am familiar with the information that the work is progressing at full capacity, but that's all.

In your opinion, what impact will our project have on the life of this area?
With a responsible business, I have no doubts about your company, because I see that you pay a lot of attention to ecology. If it stays like you planned, I believe everything will be fine. I have heard and see that you are quite a young team, which means that you have the potential. What you do remains a legacy for your children and that is exactly what you should think about. I am an ecologist and I maintain my eco farm precisely because of the children who will visit the nature. 

Do you think that Vareš will experience its resurgence in the future?
With this project, it will. I don't know how long your company's existence is, but if it's for a long period, then surely it will. I would honestly like it to be a longer period because Vareš would then be what it once was. A lot of money was invested in the project, which gives us the impression that it is still a long period.

At the end of our conversation, can you tell us a message for the youth?
Children, take care of this God-given space! Vareš is beautiful, you just need to preserve it for your children and the next generations, so don't leave, there is work for everyone. You just need to find an occupation that will fill you with joy. That would be my message for the youth.