Skopje, 12 October 2022 (MIA) – North Macedonia is a part of Europe and common measures are the only way to cope with the energy crisis, said Economy Minister Kreshnik Bekteshi at an informal meeting of EU energy ministers in Prague on Wednesday. A roadmap for further activities aimed at dealing with the high energy prices was presented at the meeting, as well as the possibilities of securing natural gas at affordable prices for European consumers, the Ministry of Economy said in a press release. Minister Bekteshi stated that the Western Balkans should be included in the EU’s draft measures, adding that the country expects greater support from the EU. “At the meeting with the EU energy ministers we talked about the Western Balkans' inclusion into the EU draft measures which are expected to be adopted in the coming period. As for North Macedonia, we stated what we expect as support from the EU in the shape of concrete measures, which would only be aimed at the Western Balkan countries, because we feel we are a part of the European continent and we can better handle the energy crisis together,” said Minister Bekteshi. According to the measures proposed by the European Commission, which are expected to be adopted in November, member states have to choose appropriate steps to ensure a 10-percent reduction of the total electricity consumption by the end of March 2023, i.e., a mandatory 5-percent reduction of consumption during peak hours between December 1, 2022 and March 31, 2023. A limitation of the revenue of electricity producers and the distribution of excess revenue are also among the measures. This would apply to producers of electricity from renewables, nuclear and lignite power plants, peat and mazut. Market revenues would be limited to EUR 180 per MWh, and the excess revenue would be used to mitigate the impact of the rising prices. One of the measures proposed by the European Commission is a solidarity contribution by fossil fuel companies, which would apply to companies engaged in the production or trade of coal, natural gas, crude oil and petroleum products, including refineries. The funds raised would be used to support families and businesses in order to mitigate the impact of the high energy prices. A meeting of Energy Community member states with the Director of the Secretariat of the Energy Community Artur Lorkowski was also held, during which the expectations for energy supply were discussed, as well as the measures that are being taken by the members in order to deal with the energy crisis, said the Ministry. ad/ik/