No one knows where 20 million euros for the Žirovski Vrh mine went

20. april 2018 ob 12.20 • Ljubljana - MMC RTV SLO

The first supervisor of the Žirovski Vrh mine has calculated that, over the last six years, when the mine should have been long closed, the state poured around five million euros into it. Foto: BoBo/Borut Živulović

The Žirovski Vrh uranium mine was due to close six years ago. It is still open, despite a 20 million euro loan taken out by Slovenia in 2007 to fund its closure. The state will still be repaying that loan for the next three years. This article reveals that the mine clearly never received that 20 million and that no one from the group with responsibility knows what the money was actually used for.

The first supervisor of the mine has calculated that, over the last six years, when the mine should have been long closed, the state poured around five million euros into it. "Nearly all of the mine’s revenue consists of grants by the state. Well over 800 thousand euros per annum. The money goes for salaries, for monitoring and for measures" said Darjan Petrič, president of the mine's Supervisory Board.

The state took out a 20 million euro loan with the European Investment bank (EIB) to cover the closure of the mine. Since the mine is still open, we asked the Finance Ministry where the money is. They replied that the money had been given to the Environment Ministry and that they should explain how much they have transferred to the beneficiary, to the mine.

The Ministry of the Environment replied: "The money passed to the budget of the Republic of Slovenia and was intended for the closure and for the implementation of all measures in relation to the Žirovski Vrh mine." This is what Tanja Bolte, director of the directorate at the Ministry, said.

But did this money reach the mine? "I am unable to confirm that," replied Bolte.

Not only is nobody able to explain where the money ended up, but the president of the mine’s Supervisory Board was totally unaware that the state had taken out a loan for the closure.

"I really do not recall receiving this piece of information," said Petrič, adding that if those 20 million euros had truly come to the mine, they would have closed it long ago. But now they have to beg for each euro. "The money arrives in dribs and drabs and we are unable to implement all the measures," said Petrič.

The Ministry plans to finally shut down the mine next year. But, despite all those millions, they obviously still do not have enough to do so. The mine's management, who refused to appear in front of the cameras, expects another million euros from the state.

"We estimate that 1.1 million euros will be needed in 2019 in order to pay benefits, to carry out all safety reporting as required by law, and to carry out additional monitoring," explained Bolte.

This reckless use of money raises the question - in whose interest it is that the mine has still not closed? All authorities agree that it would be best to shut down the mine as soon as possible, yet its closure has been postponed year after year. And taxpayers’ money is disappearing into it. Over a period of 16 years, the state has paid out 60 million euros to the mine.