Skopje, 28 April 2023 (MIA) — The government has already made the first transfer to the State Roads Public Enterprise according to the government's program published in the Official Gazette — this is not any secret intended to stir public anxiety and it can be checked, Minister of Transport and Communications Blagoj Bochvarski told MIA in an interview about the Bechtel and Enka construction agreement.

According to Minister Bochvarski, the State Roads Public Enterprise is receiving EUR 117 million from the government. Their project department is to organize the next steps together with the construction company in line with the government's program, the construction agreement, and the law, he said.

The government adopted the 2023 Road Infrastructure Financing Program for the construction of Corridor 8 and Corridor 10d on March 23, after which it was published in the Official Gazette.

The program earmarks EUR 117,000,000 to be paid in two tranches for the mobilization, mechanization, and other works by the contractor before starting construction work on section 1 (Tetovo – Gostivar), section 2 (Gostivar – Bukojchani), section 3 (Trebenishte – Struga – Kjafasan) and section 4 (Prilep – Bitola).

The first tranche of EUR 87,000,000 and the second tranche of EUR 30,000,000 are being paid in accordance with Article 14.7 of the Agreement for the Corridor 8 and Corridor 10d construction. mr/