Ministry of Environmental Protection preparing ban on construction of mini hydro power plants

The Ministry of Environmental Protection of Serbia is preparing amendments to the law aiming to permanently ban the construction of mini hydro power plants primarily in protected areas.

The ministry underlined its position of opposing the construction of MHPPs in Serbia, especially in the zones of protected areas, Mondo reports and reminds that some MHPPs have already been built in protected areas, such as, for example, Stara Planina.

The State Secretary at the Ministry of Environmental Protection, Ivan Karic, talked about what awaited the country on the road to the opening of Chapter 27 in the negotiations with the EU and said that this was a country which turned water wells into septic tanks.

He compared this to the construction of MHPPs in protected areas, as they are too expensive and not useful enough, while being harmful to nature.

When asked what the ministry would do to address this issue and whether it would seek to have the responsible parties prosecuted, Karic answered:

– The Ministry of Environmental Protection has not issued a single permit for the construction of MHPPs in protected natural areas. Our current laws allow this to happen, but we are also talking to other ministries about banning the construction of MHPPs in protected areas, but also in the so-called 2nd and 3rd degree areas around them.

He pointed out that the current position of the EU is that MHPPs do more harm than good and expressed hope that this problem would be resolved in cooperation with the Ministry of Energy and some other institutions.

He also pointed out that there had been misconduct in certain local self-governments, which had issued permits for the construction of MHPPs without authorization. Karic added that Minister of Environmental Protection of Serbia Goran Trivan would discuss the issue in more detail soon.

Ministarstvo zaštite životne sredine Republike Srbije

Ministarstvo rudarstva i energetike Republike Srbije

Ivan Karic

ban on construction of mini hydro power plants in protected areas

ban on construction of mini hydro power plants

mini hydro power plants

MHPPS

mini hydro power plants in Serbia

Goran Trivan

Chapter 27

adverse effects of mini hydro power plants

environmental impact of mini hydro power plants