Serbia’s RTB Bor free of debt, minister says

“China’s Zijin has paid off all RTB Bor debts. The strategic partner paid over more than 200 million Dollars and now the RTB, that is the Zijin Bor Copper DOO is free of that burden and is positioning itself on the market as one of the most important European copper producers,” Antic told the RTB Bor magazine Kolektiv.  

He said everything that the RTB Bor owed to the budget for mining fees and taxes had been paid along with a debt to the Serbian power company (EPS) and domestic banks and the the Development Fund.

He recalled that the RTB Bor owed more than a billion Dollars five or six years ago before efforts were invested to solve its problems.

“We now have a strategic partner, the Zijin company which accepted the obligation of paying 350 million Dollars. Once it paid that amount it become owner of 63 percent of the shares of RTB Bor,” Antic said and added that he expects Serbia to produce 200-250,000 tonnes of copper a year to become the third largest producer in Europe over the next few years.