At today’s briefing, the Minister of Environment and Physical Planning, Kaja Shukova, informed the representatives of the media about the realized and planned activities in the protection of the environment and answered questions about current topics.
Shukova informed about the biggest infrastructure project, primarily about the progress in establishing the regional waste management system, with the Eastern and Northeastern regions being the most advanced phase and the announcement of the tender procedure expected soon.
In the area of water, she referred to the management of river basins and the realization of the 50 million euros loan provided by the European Investment Bank distributed among all municipalities in the country. The funds were intended for the improvement of the water infrastructure for the collection and treatment of waste water, water supply, construction of filter stations, reduction of water losses depending on the priorities of the municipalities.
Minister Shukova informed that the tender for the construction of a Wastewater Treatment Plant in Tetovo has already been announced in December 2023, and the tender fot the construction of a Wastewater Treatment Plant in Bitola is in the preparation stage. Regarding the construction of the Wastewater Treatment Plant in Skopje, Shukova emphasized that an advance payment has already been made, with which the contractor can start work.
In the area of nature protection, as the Minister informed, a new initiative for the protection of Jablanica has been launched, the process of revaluation of the natural values of Mavrovo is underway, and for the first time this year the MOEPP will approach direct financing of all four national parks in order to improve their work and provide the necessary infrastructure that will allow them to work with ecosystem services and that logging is not the main source of income.
Considerations for proclamation of geo-parks in the country and implementing an initiative for proclamation of a geo-park near Demir Kapija are also new.
In the area of air protection, Shukova spoke about larger projects that continue to be implemented. In particular, she referred to the project financed by EU funds intended to deal with air pollution in four cities: Skopje, Bitola, Kumanovo and Tetovo, within the framework of which it is planned to replace heating systems with ecological systems in 70 public buildings, procurement of ecological buses to Skopje and an increase in green areas.
In terms of dealing with historical environmental hotspots, she announced that work to remove lindane from Ohis continues, and protective measures are being considered for the rest.
Regarding the current issue of the construction of HPP Cebren, Shukova informed that as of December 31, 2023 the selected bidder has not received an extension of the bank guarantee, thus the bid becomes inactive and the procedure is canceled.