Chinese-owned steel mill coats Serbian town in red dust; cancer spreads

[DavidsSling]

BELGRADE (Reuters) - A few hundred meters from the huge furnaces of the Chinese-owned Smedrevo steel mill in central Serbia, the village of Radinac is covered in thick red dust. Cancer rates have quadrupled in under a decade, and residents want the plant to clean up or shut down.

© Reuters/MARKO DJURICA Chinese-owned steel mill coats Serbian town in red dust; cancer spreads

© Reuters/MARKO DJURICA Chinese-owned steel mill coats Serbian town in red dust; cancer spreads


Zoran, 70, a throat cancer patient who speaks with a voice prosthesis after his larynx was removed, said residents must dry their laundry indoors and use vinegar to clean the dust from their cars.


"Water cannot wash it off," he said. "We do not go out. We do not dare."

According to data from the Smederevo public health body, which a watchdog called Tvrdjava obtained through a freedom of information request and shared with Reuters, the municipality of around 100,000 people reported 6,866 cancer cases in 2019, up from 1,738 in 2011.

The plant says it has invested 300 million euros in technology and pollution reduction since China's biggest steelmaker, Hesteel, bought it from the Serbian state for 46 million euros ($53 million) five years ago.

"We are all citizens of Smederevo.... Would we be working despite pollution, against ourselves and our children?" the plant's manager for environmental protection, Ljubica Drake, said in a statement to Reuters.

Three new production facilities will significantly reduce pollution after their completion in 2022, she said. It was "not correct" to conclude that higher cancer rates were caused by the plant's activities, she said, adding that the disease could be a result of NATO's bombing of Serbia in 1999 during a war in Kosovo.

© Reuters/MARKO DJURICA Chinese-owned steel mill coats Serbian town in red dust; cancer spreads


But activists say the plant is an example of Chinese-owned industrial firms ignoring pollution standards.

Nikola Krstic, the head of Tvrdjava, an environmental group whose name means The Fort, said an analysis of the red dust in September showed high concentration of heavy metals.

"The air in the town is far below European standards for 120 days per year," he told Reuters. "Red dust is greasy, it sticks to lungs, makes breathing difficult."

China has invested billions of euros in Serbia, which is a candidate to join the EU but has an uneasy relationship with the West more than two decades after the wars that followed the breakup of Yugoslavia, and has pursued close ties with Beijing.

The authorities in Belgrade say they are prepared to challenge Chinese-owened companies over pollution.

In April, Serbia's authorities ordered China's Zijin Mining Group to temporarily halt some operations at the country's only copper mine over failure to comply with environmental standards. The mine said it would rectify all the problems swiftly, and it was permitted to reopen. "Not only must polluters be fined, ... if they cannot reduce pollution ... they must halt operations," Zorana Mihajlovic, Serbia's mining and energy minister, told Reuters last week.

© Reuters/MARKO DJURICA Chinese-owned steel mill coats Serbian town in red dust; cancer spreads


($1 = 0.8655 euros)

(Reporting by Aleksandar Vasovic; Editing by Peter Graff)

© Reuters/MARKO DJURICA Chinese-owned steel mill coats Serbian town in red dust; cancer spreads

Chinese-owned steel mill coats Serbian town in red dust; cancer spreads

 

[Hack-Hook]

completely European technology , only bought by HBIS 5 year ago after Serbia needed some cash and stat privatizing its aging industry .
It was polluting the environment even then but at the time nobody in EU cared about that

 

[Leishangthem]

Typical china blame headline meant for the grab attention of the low lQ masses ,while filling in less convenient details later in the article in the most subtle manner to avoid attention.
The troubles caused by these red devils.

 

[OIO]

BELGRADE (Reuters) - A few hundred meters from the huge furnaces of the Chinese-owned Smedrevo steel mill in central Serbia, the village of Radinac is covered in thick red dust. Cancer rates have quadrupled in under a decade, and residents want the plant to clean up or shut down.

View attachment 791880
© Reuters/MARKO DJURICA Chinese-owned steel mill coats Serbian town in red dust; cancer spreads

View attachment 791881
© Reuters/MARKO DJURICA Chinese-owned steel mill coats Serbian town in red dust; cancer spreads


Zoran, 70, a throat cancer patient who speaks with a voice prosthesis after his larynx was removed, said residents must dry their laundry indoors and use vinegar to clean the dust from their cars.


"Water cannot wash it off," he said. "We do not go out. We do not dare."

According to data from the Smederevo public health body, which a watchdog called Tvrdjava obtained through a freedom of information request and shared with Reuters, the municipality of around 100,000 people reported 6,866 cancer cases in 2019, up from 1,738 in 2011.

The plant says it has invested 300 million euros in technology and pollution reduction since China's biggest steelmaker, Hesteel, bought it from the Serbian state for 46 million euros ($53 million) five years ago.

"We are all citizens of Smederevo.... Would we be working despite pollution, against ourselves and our children?" the plant's manager for environmental protection, Ljubica Drake, said in a statement to Reuters.

Three new production facilities will significantly reduce pollution after their completion in 2022, she said. It was "not correct" to conclude that higher cancer rates were caused by the plant's activities, she said, adding that the disease could be a result of NATO's bombing of Serbia in 1999 during a war in Kosovo.
View attachment 791882
© Reuters/MARKO DJURICA Chinese-owned steel mill coats Serbian town in red dust; cancer spreads


But activists say the plant is an example of Chinese-owned industrial firms ignoring pollution standards.

Nikola Krstic, the head of Tvrdjava, an environmental group whose name means The Fort, said an analysis of the red dust in September showed high concentration of heavy metals.

"The air in the town is far below European standards for 120 days per year," he told Reuters. "Red dust is greasy, it sticks to lungs, makes breathing difficult."

China has invested billions of euros in Serbia, which is a candidate to join the EU but has an uneasy relationship with the West more than two decades after the wars that followed the breakup of Yugoslavia, and has pursued close ties with Beijing.

The authorities in Belgrade say they are prepared to challenge Chinese-owened companies over pollution.

In April, Serbia's authorities ordered China's Zijin Mining Group to temporarily halt some operations at the country's only copper mine over failure to comply with environmental standards. The mine said it would rectify all the problems swiftly, and it was permitted to reopen. "Not only must polluters be fined, ... if they cannot reduce pollution ... they must halt operations," Zorana Mihajlovic, Serbia's mining and energy minister, told Reuters last week.

View attachment 791883
© Reuters/MARKO DJURICA Chinese-owned steel mill coats Serbian town in red dust; cancer spreads


($1 = 0.8655 euros)

(Reporting by Aleksandar Vasovic; Editing by Peter Graff)

View attachment 791884
© Reuters/MARKO DJURICA Chinese-owned steel mill coats Serbian town in red dust; cancer spreads

Chinese-owned steel mill coats Serbian town in red dust; cancer spreads

NATO uses a large number of depleted uranium bombs in Serbia.

 

[redtom]

Typical china blame headline meant for the grab attention of the low lQ masses ,while filling in details later in the article in the most subtle manner to avoid attention.
The troubles caused by these red devils.

The article is worth at least $1,000, and the CIA will pay. But $1000 is the price of a Zimbabwean newspaper and I think Reuters can get more.

 

[Beast]

The article is worth at least $1,000, and the CIA will pay. But $1000 is the price of a Zimbabwean newspaper and I think Reuters can get more.

OP earn his $0.50 from CIA for starting this thread here....

 

[Battlion25]

I couldn't help but burst out in laughter.... Just wait for it CNN and all the media gangs to sniff up this news they will milk this one to kingdom come. This is the type of news the vultures lay in wait for...

Remember that movie Minata with Johnny Deep that came out recently and hack don't get surprised if they make few movies out of this very incident you are reading now they love to make movies like Minata or other natural disaster movies... Example remember that oil spil movie with Mark Wahlberg for years back

 

[STREANH]

Its upto the host country to enforce the pollution norms by frequent inspection and penalties.

 

[Stranagor]

The reporter could be one of those on US payroll.

Opinion | US to offer millions in new funds to take on China

If they look, swim and quack like US influence operations, they probably are US influence operations, especially when they come with an annual price tag of US$300 million to be authorised as law by the US Congress, of which US$10 million has been earmarked especially for Hong Kong.

amp.scmp.com

 

[Nan Yang]

United States owned the Smedrevo Steel Mill from 2003 to 2012. That's 9 years.


History
1913–2003: SARTID
On 20 February 1913, the company was founded under the name SARTID a.d. (Srpsko akcionarsko rudarsko topioničarsko industrijsko društvo a.d.). In the beginning, mainly foreign investors were shareholders of the company. During the period from 1945 to 1992, the Government of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia operated the steel plant. Many new factories were opened in that period, while Železara Smederevo was seen as a pillar of the Yugoslav metallurgy.[4]

During 1990s, the company's value declined significantly, mainly due to the sanctions which were put in effect during Yugoslav War. The loss of market and suppliers caused the later bankruptcy of the company.

2003–2012: U.S. Steel
In April 2003, two weeks after the assassination of the Prime Minister of Serbia Zoran Đinđić, the bankrupted company was sold to American steel company U.S. Steel (USS) for $23 million.[5] U.S. Steel also pledged to invest $150 million in plant modernization. Following the company's acquisition, the owners changed its name from SARTID a.d. to U.S. Steel Serbia d.o.o. (USS Serbia d.o.o.). Over the years, while being owned by U.S. Steel Corporation, the company formed an important part of the Serbian GDP, and also was the biggest Serbian exporter during the period from 2003 to 2012.[6][7][8][9]

On 31 January 2012, U.S. Steel sold the company to the Government of Serbia for $1, leaving it with 5,400 employees and amounted liabilities due to dropped global steel prices.[10]

2012–2016: Privatization process
With the departure of U.S. Steel, the company plunged into even greater problems. By the end of June 2012, it shut down both of its two large furnaces, while the remaining 5,000 workers were sent on paid leave.[11] Since 22 April 2013, it started operating again with reduced operation.[12] Since then, the Government of Serbia was looking for the strategic partner. However, several public tenders were canceled due to lack of valid bids.[13]

On 5 December 2014, a Serbian Privatization Agency issued a public tender for the purchase of 80.01 percent of the company.[14] On 12 January, 2015, an American company Esmark Steel Group was confirmed by the Government of Serbia as a sole valid bidder, and thus began negotiations on takeover of the company.[15] On 17 February 2015, after month of negotiations, a Serbian PM Aleksandar Vučić announced that the Government of Serbia has decided to reject Esmark's offer for the purchase of the company. The decision was made mostly because the Government hasn't received assurances from Esmark that the factory won't be shut down after few years of service.[16]

On 21 March 2015, a Management Service contract was signed between Železara Smederevo and the Dutch company HPK Engineering. Signing this contract, Government of Serbia elected HPK Engineering as a company to manage Smederevo steel plant for the next three years. It was stated that HPK Engineering will be responsible for creating the conditions for Železara Smederevo becoming profitable within the next 6 months while maintaining the current size of the labor force.[17]

2016–present: Hesteel
In April 2016 Hesteel Group acquired the business, bidding €46 million. Initially stated plans were to invest $300 million over 2 years into the plant including installation of galvanisation equipment, and raise production to 2.2 million tons from 0.875 million.[18] Also, the headquarters of the company has been moved from Smederevo to the capital of Belgrade.

Hesteel Serbia finished the 2018 calendar year as the biggest Serbian gross exporter with 749.5 million euros worth of exports.[19] It has produced around 2 million tonnes of steel products for 2018 calendar year.[20]

 

[Falconless]

China avenging Gul Sher!

 

[Globenim]

So is this U.S. regime propaganda mouthpiece saying that China is stealing superior Western cancer spreading technology or are they fearmongering that China may be destroying Western cancer spreading with Chinas debt trap?

 

[Stranagor]

United States owned the Smedrevo Steel Mill from 2003 to 2012. That's 9 years.


History
1913–2003: SARTID
On 20 February 1913, the company was founded under the name SARTID a.d. (Srpsko akcionarsko rudarsko topioničarsko industrijsko društvo a.d.). In the beginning, mainly foreign investors were shareholders of the company. During the period from 1945 to 1992, the Government of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia operated the steel plant. Many new factories were opened in that period, while Železara Smederevo was seen as a pillar of the Yugoslav metallurgy.[4]

During 1990s, the company's value declined significantly, mainly due to the sanctions which were put in effect during Yugoslav War. The loss of market and suppliers caused the later bankruptcy of the company.

2003–2012: U.S. Steel
In April 2003, two weeks after the assassination of the Prime Minister of Serbia Zoran Đinđić, the bankrupted company was sold to American steel company U.S. Steel (USS) for $23 million.[5] U.S. Steel also pledged to invest $150 million in plant modernization. Following the company's acquisition, the owners changed its name from SARTID a.d. to U.S. Steel Serbia d.o.o. (USS Serbia d.o.o.). Over the years, while being owned by U.S. Steel Corporation, the company formed an important part of the Serbian GDP, and also was the biggest Serbian exporter during the period from 2003 to 2012.[6][7][8][9]

On 31 January 2012, U.S. Steel sold the company to the Government of Serbia for $1, leaving it with 5,400 employees and amounted liabilities due to dropped global steel prices.[10]

2012–2016: Privatization process
With the departure of U.S. Steel, the company plunged into even greater problems. By the end of June 2012, it shut down both of its two large furnaces, while the remaining 5,000 workers were sent on paid leave.[11] Since 22 April 2013, it started operating again with reduced operation.[12] Since then, the Government of Serbia was looking for the strategic partner. However, several public tenders were canceled due to lack of valid bids.[13]

On 5 December 2014, a Serbian Privatization Agency issued a public tender for the purchase of 80.01 percent of the company.[14] On 12 January, 2015, an American company Esmark Steel Group was confirmed by the Government of Serbia as a sole valid bidder, and thus began negotiations on takeover of the company.[15] On 17 February 2015, after month of negotiations, a Serbian PM Aleksandar Vučić announced that the Government of Serbia has decided to reject Esmark's offer for the purchase of the company. The decision was made mostly because the Government hasn't received assurances from Esmark that the factory won't be shut down after few years of service.[16]

On 21 March 2015, a Management Service contract was signed between Železara Smederevo and the Dutch company HPK Engineering. Signing this contract, Government of Serbia elected HPK Engineering as a company to manage Smederevo steel plant for the next three years. It was stated that HPK Engineering will be responsible for creating the conditions for Železara Smederevo becoming profitable within the next 6 months while maintaining the current size of the labor force.[17]

2016–present: Hesteel
In April 2016 Hesteel Group acquired the business, bidding €46 million. Initially stated plans were to invest $300 million over 2 years into the plant including installation of galvanisation equipment, and raise production to 2.2 million tons from 0.875 million.[18] Also, the headquarters of the company has been moved from Smederevo to the capital of Belgrade.

Hesteel Serbia finished the 2018 calendar year as the biggest Serbian gross exporter with 749.5 million euros worth of exports.[19] It has produced around 2 million tonnes of steel products for 2018 calendar year.[20]

There should be no pollution during that period under US ownership. Otherwise, Western press would have certainly raised the issue.

After all, the US is not the largest per capita polluter in the world.

 

[Apollon]

completely European technology , only bought by HBIS 5 year ago after Serbia needed some cash and stat privatizing its aging industry .
It was polluting the environment even then but at the time nobody in EU cared about that

Why should anyone in the EU care about Serbia? Its not a EU member state.

Such conditions would be Impossible in the EU

 

[hualushui]