Mojkovac Municipality

Mojkovac proves that proximity to beauty does not guarantee prosperity. The municipality of 8,622 residents (down from 10,015 in 2003) sits astride the Tara River valley—Europe's deepest canyon at 1,300 meters, protected as part of UNESCO's Durmitor National Park—yet its economy collapsed when the Brskovo lead and zinc mine closed in the late 1980s. The canyon called 'Tear of Europe' flows through the municipality's center, splitting 367 square kilometers into two roughly equal halves. Tourists raft the Tara and photograph the gorge, then drive through Mojkovac to lodging elsewhere.

Yugoslav central planning created Mojkovac's industrial function. The Brskovo mine opened in 1966, extracting lead and zinc ore for two decades and employing the majority of the municipality's workforce. The Vukman Kruščić timber combine processed wood from surrounding forests, while MISS textile factory completed the industrial triad that transformed a small mountain settlement into a company town. All three industries operated on the logic of socialist development: build extraction capacity in peripheral regions, supply central processing facilities, employ local populations. When Yugoslavia's economic model failed in the 1990s, all three closed. The municipality lost its reason for existence while retaining the population that had gathered to work jobs that no longer existed.

The official narrative describes 'reorientation toward tourism and agriculture,' but the numbers tell the story of contraction rather than transition. The population fell 14% between 2003 and 2011 as working-age adults left for employment in Podgorica, Nikšić, or abroad. What remains is a municipality with world-class natural assets—the UNESCO canyon, Tara River rafting, access to Durmitor National Park—that functions primarily as infrastructure tourists drive through en route to destinations with hotels and services. Mojkovac owns the view but not the value chain. Rafting companies are registered in Žabljak (the Durmitor gateway town 60 kilometers north), hotels cluster in Kolašin (the ski resort 30 kilometers south), and Mojkovac retains gas stations and small shops capturing minimal spend from transit traffic.

By 2026, the municipality faces the abandoned mine's dilemma: assets too expensive to remove, too toxic to ignore, and impossible to convert into productive use. The Brskovo mine sits idle, its tailings a remediation liability the municipality cannot afford. The canyon brings tourists but not tax revenue. Population decline continues as youth recognize that owning the view without owning the tourism infrastructure means inheriting poverty with spectacular scenery. Succession after extraction takes centuries when nothing grows on tailings.