Vučić: We will not give up on Gazivode

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić said while touring Lake Gazivode today that the state of Serbia cannot and will not give up on something that is of strategic importance for the survival of Serbs in northern Kosovo and Metohija, as is this hydro system.

"For us, Lake Gazivode and the hydropower potential are of great significance. Water resources and capacities are mainly used by Albanians for the Obilić power plant and for the population," he stressed.

Vučić reminded that the Albanian side had been offered several types of arrangements, which would not involving fully taking or seizing Gazivode from the "Serbian hands".

At the same time, he expressed regret that the Priština side had not wanted to accept such arrangements so far.

"Our position is that we cannot give up on such an important and strategic resource. We are always ready to supply water to the Albanian side and we haven't had any problems with that so far, nor will we have any problems in the future," Vučić stressed.

The Prime Minister pointed out that something built by the state of Serbia, and preserved and built by its people cannot be taken away by a single signature or because someone figured it belongs to them without any legal basis.

He indicated that he once said in Brussels, "Say what you want, but I will not give up on Gazivode".

"We haven't continued these talks since then, and our position has not changed," Vučić stressed.

"All this time, we have been asking to discuss the issue of property in Brussels, to see what belongs to whom, but they have never wanted to discuss property. I have seen the comments of the Priština side that they consider everything the property of, as they say, the Republic of Kosovo, which is absolutely unacceptable for us and we have not agreed to this, and we never will," the Prime Minister said.

He stressed that Belgrade had many constructive proposals that the Priština side did not want to accept.

"In this respect, I realized they do not want joint work and management. Instead, they want to say that it is their resource 100%, that it belongs to the Republic of Kosovo, or the so-called Republic of Kosovo, as we say. We find this impossible and unacceptable," Vučić said.

The Director of the Public Company "Ibar" Srđan Vulović said that 90% of the capacity of the hydro system – 24 km long Lake Gazivode, a small compensation lake of Pridvorica, and the hydropower plant – are located in the municipality of Zubin Potok.

He stressed that last year they had record production of 103.7 million kilowatt hours, and that water is constantly supplied to Priština in the amount of five cubic meters per second.

"We have often been accused of not supplying water, but it is certain that water from Gazivode has never been denied," Vulović explained, and the Prime Minister added that Albanians would not even have water were it not for the supply from Gazivode.

Vulović explained that potable water from Gazivode is used by about 600,000 Albanians, and that it is used to cool the thermal power plants of Obilić A and B.