Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski encouraged companies on Monday to use the government’s anti-crisis measures aimed to mitigate the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war on the economy, news agency MIA reports.

“The state is here to help and monitor their development because a developed economy equals a developed country. We will surpass all challenges this year, with the right approach,” Kovachevski said during his visit to the company Vitaminka in Prilep.

He reiterated that we’re facing the largest global economic crisis since the WWII, but that a €400 million anti-crisis package was approved from the beginning in order to soften the blow on the people’s living standard and protect companies’ liquidity.

“This reaffirms the government’s accountability and investing the budget where it’s most needed: to support the economy, the employees, and the people’s living standard. In this global economic crisis, as a government, we took all necessary steps to mitigate the price shocks for the citizens and the economy. We quickly and timely approved a measure package worth €400 million to soften the blow on the people’s living standard and to protect companies’ liquidity. The companies are becoming operational very quickly and they’re yielding results,” Kovachevski said.

He also said that the six measure packages brought during the pandemic, worth €1.2 billion, preserved 60,000 jobs and supported over 20,000 companies.