Skopje, 25 March 2022 (MIA) - Several lines of credit for businesses from the Development Bank will be operational as of next week, announced Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Fatmir Bytyqi. These credit lines, valued at around EUR 46 million, will help the economy manage the energy crisis and the consequences of the Russia-Ukraine war, as well as prepare for the green transition. Bytyqi revealed that they're working on detailed analyses to substitute raw materials from countries deemed unattractive before. "We're aware that we're a small, dependent economy. Our value chains are connected widely around the world. The Ukraine crisis will surely cut the value chains. When we adopted the economic measures two weeks ago, we said we'd make sure to supply as much raw material as we can from countries that were not appealing at first. We have plenty of countries in which we've had and continue to have high customs prices despite importing raw materials from the EU, CEFTA countries and some other countries we have contracts with. We're already conducting detailed analyses to abolish customs tariffs and quotas in order to secure raw material substitutes," Bytyqi said. He said he believes that the automotive sector is an advantage that should be used when the value chain has been broken after what transpired in Ukraine. "This is a global crisis. We need to see how we can use our opportunities together. There are already opportunities for our country in the automotive sector, because I believe that what happened in Ukraine and the breaking of the value chain in the automobile sector is advantageous to us, and I think it'll be one of the segments we'll use to our advantage," the Deputy PM said. dk/ba/