All posts by : Kristina

Today Bucim DOO Radovish, the only operating copper mine in North Macedonia, is celebrating 40 years of operational activities and contribution to the economy of its home country, region, and town. The official celebrations took place this morning in the municipality of Radovish in the presence of the Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Zoran Zaev, other honored guests, partners, and members of the community.

In 2019, Buchim also marks its 15 years of operations under the Swiss-based Solway Investment Group. Since 1979, Bucim has been welcoming all the changes and opportunities required to evolve, exist, and remain a successful producer, responsible neighbor, and a fare employer. During the past 15 years Bucim has been and still is experiencing exceptional growth and development.

Today Bucim mine is the leading mining project and the only operating copper and gold mine in the Republic of North Macedonia with an annual production capacity of over 40,000 tons of copper concentrate containing gold.

To secure Bucim’s success Solway Investment Group has invested over 78 million euro in the mine’s modernization and development since 2005. During all those years Bucim has been contributing to the occupational health and safety initiatives, environmental safeguards, and the development of municipal infrastructure at Bucim, its hometown, and neighboring municipalities. The amount of social investments into the civil infrastructure development, occupational health and safety and environmental protection adds up to   5 million since 2005 and is growing annually.

Opening the anniversary festivities at Bucim the Prime Minister of the Republic of North  Macedonia, Zoran Zaev said: “We continue to work together to promote and develop the mining sector in the Republic of North Macedonia as an important segment in our efforts to build a strong economy that will open up opportunities for all!”

Vasil Borutskij, General Manager of Bucim DOO Radovish: “Despite all the problems related to obtaining permits, the Borov Dol project is ongoing and we plan to transport the first ore from the Borov Dol mine into the flotation plant in Bucim before the next celebration of Miner’s Day in 2020. Implementation of the Borov Dol project will extend the operations of Bucim mine for at least 10 years with significant annual contributions to state and municipal budgets.”

Nikolajcho Nikolov, Deputy manager of Bucim DOO Radovish added: “Four decades ago, the mine was projected to work for only 17 years. Look at us, celebrating 40 years today! We are honored to celebrate our accomplishments together with our employees, citizens of Radovish, and partners. They have been an impressive 40 years and we are looking forward to honoring another ten so we can honor 50!”

In 2018 the company launched a project to open a new copper ore mine at Borov Dol. As a result the digging of copper ore can be prolonged until 2030, thereby maximizing the lifetime of exploitation of the flotation and other existing facilities at the Bucim mine. The impeccable reputation of the Bucim’s managing team, their willingness to adapt to the changing requirements of the modern world and efficient infrastructure built over the years, open unique opportunities for further regional consolidation and joint safe development of other mining projects, minimizing the impact on the environment.

Dan Bronstein, Chairman of the board, Solway Investment Group said: “Bucim’s 40th anniversary is the perfect occasion to celebrate and glance back into the past as well as look forward to the future. In 2005, some creativity and a desire to face calculated risks were required to bring Bucim to success. I can say I am glad we seized this opportunity 15 years ago and despite all the technical, social, and economic challenges, we delivered on our promises. I would like to thank the Government of North Macedonia, the people of Radovish, Bucim employees, our partners, and the rest of the stakeholders for the loyalty and trust they showed throughout these years. I believe with such involvement and support, together we will have many prosperous and blooming years to come in the future.”

Six young talents will represent their countries at the Salzburg Festival’s Opera Camp this summer

The Solway Music Fellowship Organizing Committee in cooperation with the Salzburg Festival has selected 6 finalists from Guatemala, Macedonia and Ukraine to attend the Opera Camp at the Salzburg Festival. More than 40 creatives, aged 14 – 17, expressed their interest in applying for the program. 39 continued their journey to the Stardrome after the first round was completed and only 6 (2 per country) were awarded the full scholarship, which covers travel and visa expenses, accommodation, as well as educational and entertainment activities in Salzburg, Austria.

Miguel Tiul and Carlos Guzman (Guatemala), Arthur Ardelyan and Anastasia Lavrenyuk (Ukraine), Stefan Eftimov and Monika Trayanova (Macedonia) gained an outstanding opportunity to experience the world’s most renowned classical music festival by participating in one of the Opera Camps for Children and Youth at the Salzburg Festival.  They will spend a week from August 4 until August 10, without parents, in Schloss Arenberg working with music educators, theatre professionals, and stage designers, while staging their unique version of the George Enescu’s opera “Edipe” that is being performed at the Salzburg Festival. The young winners will also visit the dress rehearsal of the “Œdipe” and go backstage. At the end of the week, together with the Camp fellows, they will perform their version of the opera in front of the audience.

The 39 selected applicants were required to undergo 24 weeks of English language training in order to reach the second round. As their final assignment, the applicants had to make a 90-second creative video, in English, which expressed their presentation skills and demonstrated their talents in particular artistic disciplines. The Jury, represented by the Salzburg Festival, the creative team of the Opera Camps and the chairman of the board of Solway Investment Group judged the presented videos based on a variety of criteria: creativity, communication skills, engagement with the language learning process as well as their level of English language skills.

For their exceptional academic results, their will to learn and their creative approach, the jury awarded Veronika Perepelytsia (Ukraine), Barbara Stojyanova (Macedonia) and Diego Raul Cac (Guatemala) with its special prize – a month of further intensive English studies that will take place in June.

The full list of selected Solway Music Fellowship program finalists and their 90-second creative videos can be seen here:

Ukraine

https://solwaygroup.com/musiccamp/ukraine-final-2019/

Macedonia

https://solwaygroup.com/musiccamp/macedonia-final-2019/

Guatemala

https://solwaygroup.com/musiccamp/guatemala-final-2019/

On March 13, 2019 at 13:30, an accident happened in the copper mine “Bucim” DOO Radovish. During the performance of his duties, an employee in charge of changing the alignment from a high voltage line died of an electric shock.

All the services required by law in such a case were called in place. After initial information from the services, the cause of death is an electrocution. A commission is formed to assess the final assessment of the the cause of the accident in accordance with all legal requirements.

“Bucim” DOO Radovish and its mothering company Solway Investment Group express their sincere condolences to the family. In accordance with the laws of the Republic of Macedonia and according to the internal protocols, “Bucim” DOO Radovis will pay all benefits to the family of the deceased.

Bucim DOO Radovish would like to clarify the information falsely published by the media on the situation as it relates to the death of an employee of the mine this morning.

An employee of Bucim who performed his duties as a driver died while at work this morning, on February 6, 2019. At the time of his death the deceased was working on the site and fell next to the vehicle he was in charge of. The assigned Buchim medical personnel immediately took all the necessary first aid actions. Further on the patient was handed over to the certified ambulance staff that declared him dead.

All the respected agencies required by law in such an event were called to the site to assess the matter. The medical staff and the police identified the preliminary cause of death as natural. The employee was a regular subject of the routine health assessments required by the laws of Macedonia and passed them successfully. A commission will be formed to perform the final assessment of the cause of death in adherence with all legal requirements. The incident did not affect the current operational processes at the mine.

Bucim DOO Radovish and its mothering company Solway Investment Group express their sincere condolences to the family. Bucim will pay the benefits to the family of the deceased as per the internal protocols and in accordance to the laws of the Republic of Macedonia.

Talented young students from Radovish will have another chance to represent Macedonia at the International Music Camp for Children and Youth in Salzburg in the summer of 2019.

“Bucim” DOO Radovish, a branch of the Solway Investment Group in Macedonia, opened its annual call for the Solway Music Fellowship Program. An elective part is also organized in cities in Ukraine and Guatemala, where some of the companies in the Solway Group are located.

The children of employees in Bucim, as well as students from artistic groups and educational institutions supported by the company, who have some talent in music, applied arts, ethnic craft, theater, or any other kind of creative performance, have the right to participate in the election part . The age of the participants should be from 14 to 17 years.

The scholarship program of the International Solway Music Fellowship Program, for the candidates of the youth music camp, consists of an elective part in two parts and is awarded by a joint decision of the jury. The jury is represented by the Salzburg Festival, the creative team of the Opera Camps and the Chairman of the Board of the Solway Investment Group. The jury will assess the creativity of the candidates, their artistic, theatrical or music education, as well as the communicative skills, and not the number of diplomas or certificates the candidate has won.

There are a total of 15 vacancies for the district of Radovish in the first part of the electoral program. The application starts on November 20, 2018. The deadline for filing the application is December 20, 2018.

In the first electoral section, the selected 15 candidates will have to attend a 20-week English-language course in order to reach the second part of the elimination, which will be in late April 2019. Candidates will qualify for the second phase by creating a creative video presentation for a duration of 90 seconds. Videos must be recorded in English, and the candidate must present and show his abilities and talents in one of the artistic disciplines.

Two of the most creative, most communicative, most capable and talented finalists will be selected for a trip to Salzburg, with all expenses covered and a week’s stay at the Salzburg Music Camp for Children and Youth, which will be held in August 2019 in Austria.

In the summer of 2018, Verche Andonova and Kostadin Atanasov from Radovish represented Macedonia in Salzburg.

When addressing the candidates for 2019, Solway’s last year scholarship said that the week they spent in Salzburg was of great importance to them, just like all parts of the electoral process until they were selected for scholarship. They have acquired the skill and the ability to communicate in English.

They also explained that speaking the same language (English) with the other students and mentors at the camp helped them get to know each other better with new acquaintances, and to increase their creative skills.

For more details, as well as for applying for the Solway Music Fellowship Program, please visit the website:

http://solwaygroup.com/musiccamp/?lang=mk