# Defend the Rivers of Stara Planina movement (ORSP)

A movement that, together with the Association of Local Communities of Stara Planina, organised protests against small hydropower plants, drawing thousands of people in Pirot and Belgrade. After a meeting in 2019, its representatives said Vučić would propose a ban on building small hydropower plants in protected areas. Because the state had failed for a year and a half to enforce the order to remove the pipes, in 2020 local residents and activists breached the pipe on the Rakitska river themselves, and the police did not intervene.

## Affairs

- [Small hydropower plants and Stara Planina](https://odgovornost.rs/en/afere/mini-hidroelektrane): He called for construction to be halted and for power plants built in breach of the law to be demolished. In Rakita, local residents and activists broke open a pipe

## People

- [Aleksandar Jovanović Ćuta](https://odgovornost.rs/en/osobe/aleksandar-jovanovic): president of the “Defend the Rivers of Stara Planina” movement

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Source: Odgovornost, https://odgovornost.rs/en/organizacije/odbranimo-reke-stare-planine  
As of: 6 Nov 2026  
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en)