Kosovo court wants law on Trepca mining basin annulled

Kosovo court wants law on Trepca mining basin annulled

According to a statement issued by the court, the law "has the effect of an expropriation without compensation for the complainant, who is a creditor of Trepca and the value of his claim against Trepca was reduced to zero, since Trepca was left without resources and overburdened with debts."

It is added that "the partial expropriation is carried out for the benefit of private persons without any justification."

"Due to this reason, the court has issued a request to the Constitutional Court (Article 113.8 of the Constitution), which has the exclusive power to abolish the laws," said a statement.

The Serbian government earlier declared this law, passed by the Kosovo Assembly in Pristina, null and void.

The law envisages the confiscation of the Trepca mining basin's valuable assets, and their transfer without any compensation to a newly formed shareholder society, 80 percent of which is owned by Kosovo, while 20 percent is to be privately owned. This company, in turn, would not take over Trepca's obligations nor guarantee for them.

Director of the Serbian Government's Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric visited the mining basin in Leposavic, northern Kosovo, on Monday, telling the workers there that Tepca "can count on all kinds of support from the government of Serbia" while " the provincial law produces no legal effect since it was nullified by the relevant decision of the government of Serbia."

This support, Djuric said, will be "not only in political but also legal and financial."