The Government will transfer EUR 6 million to Power Plants of North Macedonia (ESM) so it takes over the management, distribution, supply and production of heating energy for Skopje for the entire heating season from the current license bearer Balkan Energy Group (BEG), Minister of Economy Kreshnik Bekteshi said on Friday.

According to him, these funds will be used to pay the difference between the real and current price of heating energy for the 2022. Asked if EUR 6 million would be enough for the entire heating season, Bekteshi said ESM has made those estimates together with the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) and the management of ESM – Energetics, which produces heating energy in accordance with current prices and stock prices of natural gas for January.

In response to a reporter’s question on whether there’s enough coal for the production of electricity, the Minister pointed out that there are currently 250,000 tons of coal at disposal.

“As the Commission monitoring the situation in terms of heating energy and electricity has informed me, I can only tell you that we currently have 250,000 tons of coal at our disposal for the needs of REK Bitola, and 3-4 months ago we barely had 40,000 tons. This quantity is a combination of local and imported coal. It enables REK Bitola to operate without interruptions, and production could even increase if needed,” Bekteshi said.

Source:MIA