ZDK Government Visits Eastern Mining and Vareš Municipality

At the invitation of the Director of the Eastern Mining company, Mr. Miloš Mišo Bošnjaković, the entire Government of the Zenica-Doboj Canton visited Vareš.

At the invitation of Mr. Miloš Mišo Bošnjakovic, the entire Government of the Zenica-Doboj Canton visited Vareš.

The delegation included Prime Minister Mirza Ganic, Cantonal Assembly Speaker Cazim Huskic, Minister of Economy Zlatko Jelic, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management Mirnes Basic, Minister of Justice Nebojsa Nikolic, Minister of Finance Josip Lovric, Minister of Labor and Social Policy Azra Sabanovic, Minister Education Spahija Kozlic, Minister of Health Care Adnan Jupic and Minister of Defense Fahrudin Colakovic.

The visit to Vareš began with a meeting with the Mayor of Vareš, Zdravko Marosevic, and the Chairman of the Municipal Council, Adis Cizmic, and the Mayors' assistants held in the municipal council hall. The meeting was attended by members of the Cantonal Assembly Vedrana Dugonjic and Alma Kamenjas. 

During the introduction, the Mayor briefed the senior delegation on the situation in Vareš. He commented on the state of infrastructure, tourism potential, and road communications requesting assistance in the implementation of these projects. The primary reason for the visit was to discuss the exploitation of mineral resources in the municipality.

Prime Minister Ganic responded briefly to all questions raised and pledged the full support of all the ministries. He emphasised the importance of mining and permitting for potential investors in Vareš municipality also pledging support for the development of tourism and road communications.

After the meeting in the Municipality, the delegation headed to the Eastern Mining Information Centre, where they briefly became acquainted with its work. The visit continued with a tour of Eastern Mining’s plant and the open pit "Veovaca" where exploration activities have been completed. 

Director Bošnjakovic briefed the party on the company and its plans with an overview of the work done so far saying: "The company is working hard to obtain mining licenses, whilst conducting intensive geological exploration activities. This is supported by the fact that there are currently six drilling rigs on site. The work to obtain an environmental permit is nearing completion.  This will enable us to renovate the area we took over from former landowners. I believe that you will give us maximum support in all our activities, and from our side,  we will ensure that we comply with all legal and environmental regulations."

Chief geologist Aleksandar Vuckovic briefed the delegation on the sampling process and how they dispose and store the samples. Lawyer Emir Sudzuka, explained the legal aspects of obtaining permits and all the necessary documents needed to progress the project. The tour continued to the Veovaca site, where the party was introduced to the terrain and plans for further work. A tour of the Rupice site was planned, but due to the cold and rainy weather, this was not possible.

Director Bošnjakovic commented on the visit: "In addition to the excellent collaboration with the local community, our next objective was to meet the Government of the Zenica-Doboj Canton, so we invited the Prime Minister to visit and present the work we are doing here. I was pleasantly surprised that he brought the Government and his entire cabinet, to visit the municipality and our project. The Prime Minister said today, in order to familiarise all the Ministers with the project and help them understand the requirements for new permits it was important that they all visited the project. After being briefed by our chief geologist on the project, the ministers were impressed with the amount of work we have done so far. I begun to notice the citizens of Vareš Municipality are more and more supportive of the project.”

"In our conversations with the Mayor, we have discussed ideas to create a good business environment in Vareš. You would have seen that recently we approved funds for the business zone, and today these funds have been paid into the Municipality account. A Governmental visit to the project is very important to us and endorses the work that Eastern Mining is doing on this project that will soon move from the exploration phase to the exploitation phase. 

It is important to note that when it comes to the exploitation phase, the funds from the concession are distributed to 70% of the municipality, and 30% remains with the canton, however, 30% will be returned to Vareš through other projects.”

Prime Minister Mirza Ganic said at the end of the visit: “Vareš is a very positive story that will attract more investors in the coming months. This is a project that should bring tourists to the area, that we should be proud of and work to retain people in this region. On behalf of the ZDK government, I would like to say that we will do everything possible to enhance this project that will benefit the citizens of Vareš.”