Response of Rio Tinto to inaccurate information about the “Jadar Project” published in the weekly magazine “Radar”
The weekly magazine “Radar” published numerous falsehoods, insinuations, and serious accusations without any evidence in an article titled “Why Rio Tinto is lobbying for Serbia's EU accession: They want the headquarters to make a mistake once, but not a hundred times,” released on May 23. Rio Tinto demands the publication of facts to refute the disputed claims following the law.
The claims made in the “Radar” article that Rio Tinto is “lobbying for Serbia's EU accession” represent a deliberate misinterpretation of the company’s business activities and are part of a coordinated disinformation campaign about the company and the “Jadar” project.
Rio Tinto is not involved in any way in the negotiation process between Serbia and the EU.
Serbia is a sovereign country, and the negotiation process is solely within the jurisdiction of its institutions.
European Union laws strictly govern communication between companies and EU officials. The EU transparency register requires all companies to mark topics of interest to their business related to the industry and territories in which it operates. These are topics the company monitors; it does not indicate Rio Tinto lobbies on those areas of interest.
Rio Tinto is currently monitoring topics such as the EU Green Deal, EU Industrial Strategy, and EU COVID recovery package, among many others, including the topic of Serbia's accession to the EU. Claims that Rio Tinto is directly lobbying on any of these topics are inaccurate and misrepresent the standard business practices of all companies operating in the EU.
The article falsely claims that Rio Tinto “misled the EU by not reporting the Government as a client whose interests it represents.” while indicating at the same time there is no evidence to support this baseless accusation.
The article also incorrectly states that “Rio Tinto informed the European Union that one of the key focuses of their lobbying activities will be Serbia's accession to the EU.” This is a deliberate misinterpretation of the European Transparency Register. The European Transparency Register clearly and unambiguously states that these are topics the company monitors, not “lobbying focuses,” as stated in the article.
Rio Tinto once again requests project opponents and activists to engage in a public dialogue based on facts rather than continuing to spread misinformation.