France, Serbia sign five agreements on critical raw materials, waste, energy

During French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Belgrade, Serbia and France signed 12 agreements, including five related to critical raw materials such as lithium, as well as to energy and environmental protection.

In the energy sector, the two countries agreed cooperation on nuclear energy and signed a loan agreement for the power transmission network. The environmental agreements pertain to knowledge exchange in waste management and the construction of wastewater treatment plants.

The two sides also signed statements of intent to forge a partnership and cooperation in the exploration and mining of critical and strategic mineral resources. The documents were signed by Serbian Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Đedović Handanović and France’s interministerial delegate on strategic minerals and metals, Benjamin Gallezot.

In July, Serbia and the European Union (EU) signed a memorandum of understanding on strategic partnership in the field of sustainable raw materials and the value chains of batteries and electric vehicles. One of the projects envisaged within the partnership is Rio Tinto’s lithium mining project Jadar. This project is precisely the reason why environmental activists recently wrote to President Macron.

A loan for transmission system operator EMS was also signed

Following a memorandum of cooperation on nuclear energy, signed in April between French state-owned energy company EDF and Serbia, the two sides have now signed a follow-up letter of engagement to assess the potential for developing a civil nuclear program in Serbia. The new document was signed by Minister Đedović Handanović and EDF Group Senior Executive Vice President Xavier Ursat.

In the power sector, a credit arrangement was agreed between Serbia’s transmission system operator, EMS, and France’s development agency, AFD. It was initialed by EMS director Jelena Matejić and AFD CEO Remy Rioux.

The two countries also agreed to cooperate on waste management. The Government of Serbia and French companies SUEZ International SAS and Vinci Construction Grands Projects SA signed an agreement on interest for the design, construction, financing, operation, and maintenance of a wastewater treatment plant in Veliko Selo.

The document was signed by Serbian Minister of Construction, Transportation and Infrastructure Goran Vesić and SUEZ CEO Sabrina Soussan.

A trilateral partnership agreement between the Serbian Ministry of Environmental Protection, the AFD, and the Paris regional waste management center was signed by Serbian Environmental Protection Minister Irena Vujović.

Đedović Handanović: talks with France are about nuclear potential, not development

Minister Đedović Handanović said that discussions with France concern Serbia’s nuclear potential, not development. The talks are about the exchange of knowledge and experience and possible technical assistance in building an institutional and regulatory framework, local media reported.

Cooperation with EDF has already started

Based on the April memorandum, she stated, Serbia is already working out further steps in cooperation with EDF with the view to identify the best long-term solutions that can potentially be applied to nuclear energy in Serbia. Nuclear power plants can provide baseload energy and help Serbia phase out coal, she noted.