Skopje, 26 October 2022 (MIA) – The European Union will give North Macedonia financial support to manage the energy crisis, with the first tranche worth EUR 80 million to be available as of January 2023, said Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski on Wednesday. PM Kovachevski told a joint press conference with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen this would not be the only assistance, since regional support in grants and financing of capital projects is also mulled. “We had discussions with the EC President, the commissioners for finance and energy. The first grant in the amount of EUR 80 million will be used for Budget support in the country. We will complete all the formalities in the next two months and we will be able to use the funds as of January next year. This means that the funds can be used for management of the energy crisis during the most difficult months of January, February and March. They will be allocated for specific purposes in the 2023 Budget, which will soon be approved by the Government and enter parliamentary procedure,” said Kovachevski. The PM added this will not be the only support, with since regional support in grants and financing of capital projects is also contemplated, including gas networking and securing new sources for electricity supply. “This primarily includes big projects related to the construction of gas and other energy facilities in the region, towards stabilizing electricity production across the area of the Western Balkans,” underlined Kovachevski.