Serbs tell why they care without it, Kosovo does not exist

The Wyman hydro power plant, the contesting point of Serbian President Aleksandar Vuciq's visit to Kosovo, is of strategic importance for the position and future of Serbs in Kosovo.

Weiman, along with Trepca and Valac trafostation, are very strategically important for Serbia as a whole, broadcast Serbian media.

This is about our survival, our development. Without Wyman, Kosovo would not exist”, explains Zubin Potok Mayor Stevan Vulovic.

If, for example, water would be stopped at thermal power plants, they would remain unproductive, result in power supply cuts, any kind of production would cease, supply of drinking water to more than 700,000 people would cease, information technology would be shut down, die in Kosovo,” he told Tanjug.

About 80 percent of the surface of Lake Weyman is located in the municipality of Zubion Potok in northern Kosovo, with a Serb majority, and a small portion of the lake belongs to the Novi Pazar municipality in Sandzak, Serbia.

Construction of this dam and the entire hydrosystem project was financed by World Bank development funds in the 1970 ' s. The initial contracts were signed by former Yugoslav President Josip Broz Tito.

Over 95 percent of the company's infrastructure is located on the territory of Zubin Potok municipality, and 100 percent of the profits of about 10m euros a year are realised in the same territory, which does not benefit, Serbian media write.

The Serbian government decided in 2004 to create a new public company named “JP” Ibar, which still operates in the municipality of Zubin Potok and runs company assets.

The company's assets imply the large lake of Uyman, the small lake with the Pridvorica dam, and a water supply channel and two irrigation stations.

The lake is 12 miles [24 km] long, with an area of 11 square miles [11 sq km], and 380 c. 420 million cubic metres.