Montenegro has appointed U.S. law firm Hughes Hubbard & Reed and Serbian firm Nikčević Kapor to represent the state in an arbitration case filed by Swiss company Tara Resources over the termination of its mining concession at the former Brskovo mine, the country’s Ministry of Energy and Mining announced Wednesday.
The ministry said the firms were selected after submitting the top bid in a public tender earlier this year, without revealing details about the other bidders.
In July 2025, Tara Resources filed a request with the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in Washington D.C., following Montenegro’s unilateral termination of its concession contract for the Brskovo mining area in May 2024. The government said the company had failed to correct irregularities in its feasibility study, which violated national legislation, before the set deadline.
The Brskovo mine, located near the northeastern town of Mojkovac, has a long history of exploration. Montenegro originally granted a 25-year lease to Australia’s Sultan Corporation in 2010, which reported a 9.2 million-tonne inferred resource the following year. Tara Resources, based in Switzerland, took over the project in 2018.
The company claims its 2019 preliminary economic assessment and 2021 pre-feasibility study confirmed Brskovo’s strong economic potential, estimating construction costs at around €180 million for two open pits, a processing plant, and a waste facility. Once operational, the mine was projected to produce 45,000 tonnes of zinc, 13,000 tonnes of lead, 3,000 tonnes of copper, and about 1 million ounces of silver annually, creating 550 direct and 200 indirect jobs.
However, the project has faced persistent environmental opposition from local residents and non-governmental organizations in Mojkovac, who fear the mine could threaten ecosystems and public health in the region.
Montenegro’s government maintains that the termination was lawful and in line with national environmental and mining regulations. The arbitration proceedings in Washington could become one of the country’s most closely watched investment disputes, potentially setting a precedent for future resource development projects in the Balkans.
