Northern Macedonia Declares 30 Days of Energy Crisis

Northern Macedonia declared the energy crisis Tuesday, which will last 30 days. The government said declaring the crisis situation is to inject tools into energy companies and increase their liquidity. The government's decision does not envision restrictive measures for citizens, but by January the price of electricity is expected to increase by about 8-9 per cent.

The government announced that around 4 billion denars (about 65m euros) will be transferred from the budget to energy companies to overcome, as it said, all risks in the energy sector and for regular electricity supply.

The government is currently focused on successfully meeting the challenges posed by the global energy crisis. The state of energy crisis is brought to improve the functioning of energy companies, increase their liquidity and never adopt restrictive measures that would negatively affect the daily lives of citizens”, North Macedonia Economy Minister Kreshnik Bekteshi said.

Europe is facing an energy crisis now weeks, mainly because of rising gas prices. As a result, electricity prices have begun to rise. The crisis situation in northern Macedonia was approved at the request of the Commission for monitoring the situation for electricity supply.

Meanwhile, the Northern Macedonia People's Bank indicated that despite the energy crisis and the rising global prices, the economic situation is not expected for the time being. The People's Bank predicts recovery of the North Macedonian economy, with an increase of 3.9% this and next year. Inflation this year is projected to close by 3.1%, while next year with 2.4%.