Milovic: Residents concerned over Trepca South's demand to vacate commercial premises

Zvecan Mayor Dragisa Milovic met today with representatives of Trepca North and owners of commercial premises in central Zvecan, after Trepca South yesterday posted notices calling on the occupants to vacate properties that it claims to own.

Following the meeting, Milovic said that the notice had been posted exclusively in Albanian and had caused concern among the owners of the premises and local residents.

"Yesterday afternoon, a notice from Trepca was posted on commercial premises in Kralja Milutina Street, exclusively in Albanian. Among other things, the notice states that the premises are owned by Trepca and that the occupants must vacate them within ten days, or submit any documentation they may possess within the same deadline. The owners of those premises came to see me. I also spoke with representatives of Trepca North. They were not aware of this action. We are trying to establish contact, and I am willing to speak with the director of Trepca South as well, because this has caused considerable concern among our citizens. We can see what is happening in the neighboring municipality of Zubin Potok. Commercial premises and houses are being demolished without court decisions, people are being arrested, and we are concerned that such an action, carried out without a legal basis, could spread to the municipality of Zvecan as well. We will not allow that. We want to sit down and clarify the situation from a legal standpoint," he said.

Milovic stressed that he had invited the director of Trepca South to meet with him and clarify the issue, which he said was extremely important to the residents of Zvecan.

He said that the director and associates of Trepca North had not been aware of the action involving the posting of notices on the commercial premises.

"I contacted the director and his associates at Trepca North. I spoke with them, and they were not aware of this action. I asked them to arrange a meeting with representatives of Trepca South so that we can resolve this highly sensitive issue for our citizens in the best possible way. Here, for example, is one of the owners, Vojin Radivojevic, who purchased his commercial premises from Trepca in 1976, and now there is a notice on his premises saying that he must vacate them. So we have to clarify this matter fully," he said.

The Mayor of Zvecan said that the local government would be available to residents who needed assistance in resolving the issue.

"Whether it is legal assistance or some other form of support, my office—the Mayor's Office—is open to citizens, and together with them and, above all, with representatives of Trepca, we will try to find a solution. There are many buildings and parcels of land in the municipality of Zvecan owned by Trepca, but we should also bear in mind that many residents of the municipality of Zvecan are Trepca employees, so the two are closely interconnected. I have always said that Trepca and Zvecan form a single whole. Our fathers and grandfathers built these projects and institutions through their work and contributions from their salaries. It is therefore a shared project, and we should resolve any problems together—and there are problems," Milovic said.