The permit for the “Velika Ploča” small hydropower plant, issued on the basis of falsified documents, has been nullified.
The small Ratajska River, which supplies several villages, has been saved from destruction after years of persistent struggle. Justice will not be served until the prosecution acts on the criminal charges against the forgers who tried to seize the river and bury it in pipes.
At the beginning of 2025, the initiatives “Protect the Rivers of Prijepolje” and “Right to Water” discovered that the water permits and location conditions on which the energy permit was issued had been falsified, and reported this to the Ministry of Mining and Energy and the inspectorates. The evidence was so strong that the Ministry had no choice but to nullify the energy permit granted to the company PowerIT for the construction of the “Velika Ploča” small hydropower plant on the Ratajska River.
In 2024, the water permit was electronically signed eight days after being submitted to the Ministry, bearing the signature of a person who had not worked at the public water management company “Srbijavode” for four years. The Location Information document was also falsified. It stated that it had been issued by the Prijepolje Municipal Administration, but the municipality denied this. Activists discovered that the number and date on the document had been copied from an entirely different river-related document.
The two environmental initiatives emphasize that, in addition to the annulment of this permit, it is essential to identify and prosecute those responsible for the forgery, so that such crimes against people and nature are not repeated. Given all the submitted evidence, they expect the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Kraljevo to urgently initiate proceedings and bring the perpetrators to justice.
These associations and local residents have been trying to save the Ratajska River ever since plans for its devastation first became known. In June 2023, nearly 800 citizens of Prijepolje and the surrounding area, along with 16 civil associations, submitted a petition to the Ministry of Environmental Protection against the construction of the “Velika Ploča” small hydropower plant. In addition to fighting to save the river from the SHPP, these associations also initiated efforts for its protection. The Institute for Nature Conservation of Serbia has prepared a study, which is expected to be submitted to the Ministry of Environmental Protection by the end of the year, in order to formally launch the protection procedure.
The spatial plan of Prijepolje includes 43 locations for small hydropower plants, two of which are on the valuable Sopotnica River. The Prijepolje municipality has the authority to stop these harmful projects and make a decision to ban their construction. “Protect the Rivers of Prijepolje” and “Right to Water” take this opportunity to once again call on institutions at both the national and local levels to demonstrate the will to protect the public interest and preserve the rivers of this region.