Ministry of Industry and Trade of Czech Republ : Minister Mládek: "Adjusting limits does not mean immediate extension of brown coal mining. Only preparatory process would have lasted five years.

Published: 26.1.2015

Author: 10500

Minister of Industry and Trade Jan Mládek introduced four variants addressing the issue of territorial limits of brown coal mining. Proposed options will be first discussed in the Tripartite and then submitted to the Government.

Minister Mládek: "Adjusting limits does not mean immediate extension of brown coal mining. Only preparatory process would have lasted five years."

Minister of Industry and Trade Jan Mládek introduced today four variants addressing the issue of territorial limits of brown coal mining. Proposed options will be first discussed in the Council of Economic and Social Agreement (Tripartite) and then submitted to the Government.

Introducing specific options and benefits and negatives associated therewith was preceded by a series of meetings of the Minister Mládek with representatives of Ústi Region and municipalities that could be affected by changes in the territorial limits, representatives of mining companies and trade unions. So he heard viewpoints from all stakeholders on addressing this issue, especially in relation to limits on the mine Bílina. Then he will discuss the CSA mine. The result is four variants that carry various positive and negative impacts, but in should be emphasized that the government's decision on any of them does not automatically mean to start mining. In addition to the EIA process, the decision on granting the mining permit had to be preceded by many other necessary steps, and the whole process would last at least next 5 years.

The first option is to preserve the territorial limits in the current range. Albeit this option would not result in additional negative impacts on the environment and there would be no demolition of human settlements, its consequences would be strongly negative. "In particular, this would be a significant increase in unemployment in socially vulnerable region. Such a decision would also mean a decline in revenues to the state budget and local budgets, lack of coal for thermal power stations since 2024 and also a possible lack of money for remediation and reclamation work related to the termination of mining" explained Minister Mládek.

All other options allow for some form of breaking limits. Specifically, the option number two would move the limits in the mine Bílina, while maintaining current limits in the CSA mine. The indisputable advantage of this option is that it would preserve part of jobs even for the next generation and extend the lifetime of brown coal reserves in that mine for at least next 12 years without pulling down any human settlements.

However, even in this case it is necessary to take into account the negative effects related to unemployment, which would increase in the region after 2023 in case of closing down mining in the CSA mine. In addition, it would not guarantee enough coal for heating power stations after 2024, which would lead to a drop in revenues to the state budget and even municipal budgets.

One of the compromise variants is also the possibility of moving the limits in the Bílina mine with reserves of 100 to 120 million tons of coal, while partially moving the limits in the CSA mine with reserves of around 50 million tons. This option would entail the need to demolish the limited number of homes in the Horní Jiøetín, while preserving almost the current level of employment in both locations, and maintaining and extending of at least partial self-sufficiency of the country in energy raw material resources. This variant, however, is a subject of debate about the economic profitability of brown coal at its current prices.

The last option, having its proponents, for example, between the trade unions, is a variant of complete breaking the limits in both locations, which would represent 100-120 million tons in the mine Bílina and about 256 million tons in the CSA mine. The advantages of this option are particularly significant in terms of employment and energy security and self-sufficiency of the state. It, however, entail the need to demolish the Horní Jiøetín and Èernice village, while, same as in previous option, raising the need of solving conflicts of interest between mining companies and landowners. A significant fact is that would also bring negative environmental impacts.