Zijin cleared 11.49 hectares of forest without a permit at Malka Golaja; inspectors ordered work stopped

On 11 June 2026, the national forestry and hunting inspectorate of Serbia's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management carried out a field inspection at Malka Golaja, in the cadastral municipality of Zvezdan near Zaječar. The inspection was unscheduled, prompted by a complaint from the Balkan Biosphere Protection Centre in Zaječar. Inspectors found that Serbia Zijin Mining d.o.o. was clearing forest in breach of the Forest Act, and that 11.49 hectares of forest had been destroyed: over 114,000 square metres, roughly 16 football pitches.

The felled timber was not even taken away for use. The inspection record states:

"On the said parcels there was no felling or extraction of timber assortments. The entire timber volume was pushed over and buried by construction machinery."

According to the forestry expert's assessment, the destroyed stand held between 82.37 and 93.60 cubic metres of timber per hectare. All of it was buried on site.

In a decision dated 12 June 2026, the inspector ordered the company to halt all use of the forest at Malka Golaja until it complies with the Forest Act, with the deadline set as "immediately". A commercial offence complaint against the company and the responsible officer will be filed with the Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Zaječar. The full inspection notice (redacted) is published among the sources below.

Context

Malka Golaja is still at the planning stage. The early public review document states that the studies for this mine were "only recently begun", no environmental impact assessment has been carried out, and the early public review procedure is only now closing. The forest on those 11.49 hectares is already gone.

Four days later, on 16 June, the same group was placed under a US customs import ban over forced labour.

What we are asking for

We ask the forestry inspectorate to carry out a follow-up inspection and publish its findings. We ask the Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Zaječar to inform the public about the status of the complaint. And we ask the institutions drafting the spatial plan to take this case into account before handing the investor 126 square kilometres of eastern Serbia.

If you are nearby

If you see machinery at work, photograph it (with the date, ideally with a recognisable landmark in frame) and send it to info@timockabuna.org. We verify every report, and we never publish the sender's identity.

We post every further development in this case on Instagram and Facebook.