Several hundred miners protested in Bosnia鈥檚 capital Sarajevo on Monday demanding back pay and contributions for their retirement as a process unfolds to close their coal mine.
Bosnia remains heavily reliant on around dozen major coal mines for its energy needs, even as it faces pressure to seek cleaner sources of power while it courts European Union membership.
The sector has long been plagued by poor management, failure to pay pensions, and a spotty record on environmental stewardship.
On Monday, some 400 demonstrators gathered in central Sarajevo demanding unpaid wages from May and June for 525 miners from the Zenica coal mine.
The process of stopping coal exploitation at the mine in the central Bosnian town started in March 2024 -- 144 years after the facility opened. The miners are still officially employed there.
The protesters, which included Zenica workers as well as counterparts from other Bosnian mines, also demanded payment of unpaid health and pension contributions.
When the closure was announced, the mine employed around 600 people, to whom it owes more than $83 million in unpaid pension contributions and taxes.
A loan has been negotiated with the World Bank to cover the debt.
The situation is similar in several other mines in the country, and the sector鈥檚 debt is estimated to exceed $580 million.
鈥楶eople are desperate,鈥� union official Elvedin Alic told AFP, added that he personally had not been paid a single day of pension contributions since 2009.
He said that the authorities must resolve the fate of miners.
After gathering in front of the Sarajevo railway station, the protesters marched towards the government of Bosnia鈥檚 Muslim-Croat federation, one of the two entities that make up the country since its 1990s war.
There, authorities met with the miners鈥� delegation for talks.
鈥楾he government and the ministry of energy, mines and industry are the only place where we can solve our problems,鈥� union leader Nedzad Durakovic said on the eve of the protest.
Bosnia has committed to transitioning its economy to renewable energy sources by 2050.
Roughly two-thirds of the electricity produced in the Balkan nation is generated by a handful of mostly ageing, state-managed coal-fuelled power plants built during the Communist era.
