We don't work without salaries”, why is Trepca facing financial difficulties again?

Regarding the situation, on July 31st, the Trepca Workers' Union has held a meeting with miners, in which the nation's chief executive chief, the Kurti Union, has also attended.

Without receiving salaries and food cuts, miners refuse to enter and work in the mine because they risk their health”, says Ibrahim Januzi, chairman of the Trepca Workers Union.

A total of 1,200 miners work in Trepca, while their average salary, according to Jonuz, is 740 euros. According to the recent data of the Kosovo Statistics Agency, the average public and private sector salary in Kosovo is 521 euros.

The Trepca management reasons the non-execution of wages with a lack of financial means and fall in production.

Trepca chief head Kurti says the financial situation of the metallural plant is burdened by the low production and sale of products.

He indicated Trepca has asked the Kosovo government for additional means to enable a solution, but adds they have not received any concrete answers.
Kurti has not given any timetable for when worker wages can be executed.

There is no other reason why salaries are not paid, it is simply lack of funds. And the lack of funds comes from the lack of production and sale of the product made”, he says of the REL.

The main products Trepca produces are the concentrations of lead and glue containing silver, gold, and other elements. The Stanterg mine, located in the Mitrovica region, is the main source of xehes.

Until the publication of this article, the Kosovo government did not answer the REL question of whether it plans to share financial assistance for Trepca for the nation's workers' salaries.

Trepca metallural complex is a stock society, and 80 percent of the shares are in the Government of Kosovo, while 20 percent are of the employees of the company.

New Problems - Old Challenges

In a similar situation, Trepca miners have found themselves several times over the past year.

At the end of October 2023, for ten days in a row, they stayed on strike within the mine precisely because of the failure of wages and complaints about working conditions.

They have no health insurance, no vital insurance that they have constantly requested. In the meantime, they show that they often lack work clothes, such as helmets and light lamps, which have sometimes been forced to buy themselves.

In January of this year, 13 miners of the Trepca metallural plant had suffered injuries during the transport of sulfuric acid to the workplace and had received treatment at the Mitrovica General Hospital.

Trepca's decades of financial difficulties

Trepca machines are over 50 years old, and their lack of maintenance has caused constant problems.

The fall of production had started since the years of the then Serbian regime had closed nearly all companies and institutions in the country.

However, since the end of the war in 1999, Trepca has never succeeded in operating economic development.

The current government, in some cases, has pledged to make Trepca “profitable company”. For investments in this nation in 2023, the Kosovo government approved a 20m-euro loan. But these financial tools have not yet been executed.

Some issues remain to be settled and I believe that by the end of this year, these tools will be executed”, said Trepca chief Bashkim Kurti, not specifying the issues.

Trepca is expected to pass under the Kosovo Government Sovereign Fund, which will take over all strategic assets in the country to invest later in increasing their value.

The Law on the Sovereign Fund has been adopted late last year, but the Democratic League of Kosovo and the Democratic Party of Kosovo have submitted this law for assessment to the Constitutional Court. /REL/