Northern Macedonia will have a new route for access to natural gas – through Greece. Today in Athens, the two countries signed an agreement to start building a gas interconnection.
The route of the gas pipeline on Greek territory is 54 km – from Thessaloniki to the border checkpoint with Northern Macedonia – Evzonis.
The planned capacity is large enough to achieve full gasification of northern Macedonia, Economy Minister Bekteshi said.
Thus, Skopje gets an alternative to natural gas supply. Under certain conditions, energy experts said, it is possible to import blue fuel to Serbia through this pipeline.
The Thessaloniki-Skopje energy link has the potential to flow natural gas from the trans-Adriatic TAP pipeline, as well as from the liquefied gas terminals near Alexandroupolis and Revitusa Island, Greek Energy Minister Costas Skrekas said. The construction and operation on Greek territory is undertaken by the gas operator DESFA with funding from the European Union.
Investments in several sectors of northern Macedonia’s economy are expected to reach a total of 8.175 billion euros for the period 2021-2027.
About 5.8 billion euros of the total amount is planned for public investment, while the remaining 2.38 billion euros will be private investment, a government statement said in Skopje.
Investments of € 3.144 billion in the energy sector, € 2.729 billion in road and rail infrastructure, nearly € 800 million in manufacturing and € 300 million in the retail sector are expected.
The country expects to attract foreign investment from companies in Germany, Italy, Canada, Turkey, the United States, Belgium, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Slovenia by 2027, Prime Minister Zoran Zaev said, presenting the investment plan at a press conference on a government YouTube channel.
The investment plan will help the country recover from the Covid-19 crisis and boost living standards and gross domestic product (GDP) and export growth, Zaev said.
Foreign direct investment in northern Macedonia amounted to 240m euros last year, compared to a net inflow of 399m euros in 2019, according to central bank data released earlier this year.
