Prishtina – 16 April 2021
ANNUAL JOINT INTER-INSTITUTIONAL INSPECTIONS PLAN 2021
The Independent Commission for Mines and Minerals (ICMM) has taken this year, as every year, the initiative to hold meetings on joint inter-institutional inspections, for the possibility of conducting coordinated legal actions.
Other institutional participants were of the municipal level – municipal inspectorate, central level (Ministries dealing with the environmental protection and KFA), Kosovo Police, Tax Administration of Kosovo (TAK) and Kosovo Customs.
These meetings which took place in all Regional Kosovo Police Stations and were held in a period of two weeks, respectively from 30 March to 15 April 2021 respecting the protection measures against the COVID 19 virus according to the NIPH.
Due to the importance of the mining sector, which it is considered as one of the most important pillars of the country’s economy, and among the third sectors in the Republic of Kosovo that bring high revenues to the country’s economy, it has become an annual practice of this body by the ICMM. From the general practice in developing countries, the mining sector begins to advance greatly as a result of high market demands for the supply with various aggregates which are a necessity for the market. This need has brought a great evolution in the development of this sector.
Such requests have prompted many wrongdoers to operate illegally, which exploitation without criteria, except losses in the collection of royalties and the development of the informal economy has brought other environmental consequences which are being caused even to this day.
The activity of illegal operators has provoked dissatisfaction among licensed companies because the competition from illegal operators has not stopped to them, which it has directly affected their business. Mutual institutional cooperation coordinated with all other institutional actors will mobilize the entire state mechanism to prevent illegal activities.
The ICMM has presented the drafted annual work plan 2021, which has emerged as a result of inter-institutional team work practiced by the “Instruction for good management of mining and environmental activities”, an instruction drafted in 2019 as a harmonized and unified document which obliges all central and local institutions to prevent environmental pollution which is also directly related to the exploitation of illegally and non-taxed natural resources (mineral resource).
Due to direct communication and inter-institutional cooperation, the effects for the prevention of such illegal mining activities have been given after the entry into force of this guide, but not sufficiently. For this purpose, every year the ICMM takes coordinated legal initiatives and actions and cooperates with other institutional stakeholders, including: municipal levels – municipal inspectorate, central levels, central levels (Ministries dealing with the environmental protection and KFA, Kosovo Police, Tax Administration of Kosovo (TAK) and Kosovo Customs
ICMM, outside the inter-institutional working group and body will act and inspect in compliance with the Law on Mines and Minerals, but that institutional coordination will be required including all stakeholders of this plan.
Among the mentioned objectives for the inspection of illegal operators were:
o Illegal operations in extracting sand and gravel in rivers;
o Illegal operations for the exploitation of semi-solid stone.
o Prevention of damage to the Kosovo budget from tax evasion.
o Elimination of free competition;
o Prevention of environmental pollutants;
o Re-cultivation to close the used area;
o Prevention of illegal operations in exploitation of coal;
o Prevention of illegal processing of asphalt products (Asphalt bases).
In these inter-institutional meetings, all participating stakeholders were ready to discuss these objectives presented by the ICMM, the necessary measures will be taken to prevent illegal operations and the possibility of developing coordinated legal actions.
