Chinese-owned Smederevo steel plant fined for pollution

“The authorities have put their seal down and said that the HBIS company is a polluter for the first time,” Tvrdjava Ecology Movement activist Nikola Krstic said commenting the fine which amounts to a million Dinars (1 Euro – 117 Dinars).

The Chinese company took over the steel plant in 2016, causing concern about pollution among the local population in Smederevo.

The process of inspecting the amount of pollution from the steel plant was started a year ago, Krstic said and added that it took six months to determine that the limits set by law were exceeded.

Local residents said the fine was too low, considering that it could have been up to 3 million Dinars. Some said the fine was a formality.