The man in charge of Rio Tinto’s Jadar lithium mining project refused to tell an N1 reporter who his contacts were in the Serbian government Pročitaj više

Chad Blewitt, managing director of the Jadar Project, was asked repeatedly by a N1 reporter who he was in communication with in the government, saying Rio Tinto talks to everyone who wants to speak to him and his associates in the local community and to the ministries of the environment and mining and energy.

Blewitt said the company believes in the project even though the previous government revoked all licenses. He said that Rio Tinto’s chairman met with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Davos.

Commenting the announced protest in the village of Nedeljice where Rio Tinto wants to open a lithium mine, Blewitt said that the company respects the right to peaceful protests. “We believe we have local support,” said and added that he knows the local people do not want the mine but that there has been a lot of misinformation about the Jadar project. He claimed that the project was safe for the environment

The Brnabic government revoked licenses and changed spatial plans in the Jadar area of western Serbia following weeks of mass protests against the lithium mine last year. Serbian officials have been saying that the project should go ahead over the past few weeks claiming it would bring major benefits to the country.