Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said on Thursday that an expert group examining possible projects on the Ibar/Ibër River would be formed as early as next week, adding a new element to remarks that have triggered reactions in Pristina, Tirana and Brussels. He also claimed that Novi Pazar municipality and a Bosniak organisation had previously sought the construction of a small hydropower plant near Ribarići — a claim KoSSev has so far been unable to verify in publicly available documents.
Speaking during a visit to Veliki Popović in central Serbia, Vučić said there was preliminary project documentation related to an earlier proposal for a small hydropower plant near Ribarići.
He said the project had at one point been sought by Novi Pazar municipality and by “the Bosniak council or some such organisation”, without specifying the year, the document or the organisation’s exact name.
“There is some preliminary project documentation for that, but soon, as early as next week, an expert group will be formed to look into all of this and deal with it,” Vučić said.
What the documents show
KoSSev reviewed a series of Serbian state and local planning documents and found extensive evidence that hydropower development near Ribarići has been considered for more than two decades.
A Serbian energy strategy implementation programme for 2007–2012 listed the Ribarići hydropower plant as one of three planned new facilities.
The proposed plant was to be built on the Ibar, around four kilometres upstream from Ribarići and near the upper end of the Gazivode/Ujman reservoir.
The plans envisaged a 94-metre dam, a reservoir with a capacity of 82 million cubic metres and a 46.7 MW power plant.
The document also said that a feasibility analysis had been conducted in 2002 on the basis of an existing preliminary design.
Ribarići subsequently appeared in Serbia’s 2010 Spatial Plan, which listed both the Ribarići hydropower plant and a cascade of run-of-river plants among potential projects on the Ibar.
Serbia’s water-management strategy through 2034 likewise identifies Ribarići, upstream from the existing Gazivode/Ujman reservoir, as a location for exploiting the river’s remaining hydropower potential.
Small hydropower plans lead to Tutin, not Novi Pazar
There is also documentary evidence for plans to build small hydropower plants on the Ibar — but the records found by KoSSev point to the municipality of Tutin, where Ribarići is located.
In 2018, the Tutin Municipal Assembly initiated a detailed regulation plan for several small hydropower plants along the Ibar, including the Ribarići area.
The document described the smaller plants as a potentially more sustainable alternative to the previously planned large Ribarići hydropower plant and its reservoir of more than 2,200 hectares.
KoSSev, however, has not found a publicly available document confirming Vučić’s specific assertion that Novi Pazar municipality or the Bosniak National Council requested a small hydropower plant near Ribarići.
That does not establish that such a document or initiative does not exist, but it means the claim could not be independently confirmed on the basis of the publicly available records reviewed by KoSSev.
From changing the river flow to an expert group
Thursday’s announcement is the latest in a series of increasingly specific remarks by Vučić about the Ibar.
On August 9, he said Serbia had already contacted experts, including engineers, and referred to “various reasons for changing the course of the Ibar”, adding: “Then we will see what the Albanians will do and how they will behave.”
A day later, Vučić said the remarks were not a threat and argued that Serbia was entitled to consider projects involving a river on its territory.
Later that day, in an interview with Serbian public broadcaster RTS, he publicly mentioned Ribarići and a working group for the first time, saying it would examine where an intervention would be suitable.
“What does the Ibar have to do with Albania? It is our internal matter,” he said.
His latest statement now gives a timeframe: according to Vučić, the expert group will be established next week.
Reactions in Kosovo, Albania and the EU
Vučić’s remarks have prompted criticism from officials in Kosovo and Albania.
Kosovo’s acting Industry Minister Fitore Pacolli described the possibility of intervention on the river as “deeply concerning and unacceptable”, invoking international obligations governing transboundary waters.
Albanian diplomat Ferit Hoxha said water “does not carry a passport” and rejected the argument that the Ibar could be treated exclusively as Serbia’s internal matter.
The European Commission has also said the statements concerning the Ibar do not contribute to the normalisation of relations between Kosovo and Serbia.
Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Đurić, meanwhile, accused Pristina of using the controversy to divert attention from the treatment of Kosovo Serbs.
Vučić has continued to insist that Serbia has the right to examine options involving the river within its territory.
For the full documentation reviewed by KoSSev — including Serbian energy and spatial plans, the 2018 Tutin municipal decision, Vučić’s statements over the past several days and the reactions from Pristina, Tirana and Brussels — see the detailed Serbian-language version of this report.
Tragom Vučičeve izjave o hidrocentralama kod Ribarića: Šta kažu dokumenta?
Preuzimanje i objavljivanje tekstova sa portala KoSSev nije dozvoljeno bez navođenja izvora. Hvala na poštovanju etike novinarske profesije.
