33. Ruins of the Trepça Mine Office, Stantërg, Kosova, 1999.
One of the richest mining complexes in Europe, Trepça accounted for three-quarters of Yugoslavia’s potential mineral wealth. Prior to 1990, managers and workers were mainly ethnic Albanian, but they were pushed aside by Serbs loyal to Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic’s Belgrade regime after he stripped the province of its autonomy. Since the end of Kosova’s 1998-1999 civil war, the future ownership and workforce of the Trepça complex have become a highly controversial issue.