News · 12 August 2026
Zaječar councillors file criminal complaint against Zijin over the works at Malka Golaja
Councillors from the “Change We Believe In” movement reported works that, they say, go beyond the permits the company holds. In a single month the cleared area grew from 12 to 30 hectares.
On 12 August 2026, Zaječar city assembly councillors from the “Change We Believe In” movement filed a criminal complaint with the Zaječar police against the mining company Zijin over works at Malka Golaja, eight kilometres from the city centre. Police had visited the site and made a record of it before the complaint was filed.
According to the councillors, the company holds permits for exploration and for access roads up to six metres wide, while 30 hectares of forest have been cleared on the ground. A month earlier the cleared area was 12 hectares. Councillor Uglješa Đuričković said the scale of the works does not match the permits the company holds.
The complaint concerns the same site where, in June, the forestry inspectorate found 11.49 hectares of destroyed forest and ordered the works stopped. The planning documents for the future mining field envisage four shafts 1,600 metres deep and six tunnels totalling 6.5 kilometres.
The full article was published by Mašina (in Serbian).
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