Skopje, 26 October 2021 (MIA) – At the moment, there’s no need the country to declare state of crisis in relation to energy, Economy Minister Kreshnik Bekteshi said Tuesday noting that household electricity price will see no increase before the end of the year. “I’m confident there will be no major price-related shocks. We’ll intervene where necessary to prevent it. I don’t believe we will have to face such a situation in January,” Bekteshi said after a session of the committee tasked with reviewing the energy-related situation in the country. As of now, he added, no one can guarantee whether there will be price hike starting January because it is a global crisis affecting also our electricity network. Speaking at a news conference, Bekteshi said that the second block of coal-fired REK Bitola has been put in operations adding he hoped it will work with full capacity by the end of the day, and that a letter has been sent to the chambers of commerce over the procurement of mazut in case the mazut-fired power plant TEC Negotino should be activated. The Minister also said he hoped the tender for coal procurement for REK Bitola’s third block will be successful, adding he estimated it could be put into use in three-four weeks’ time. If the tender fails, he noted, the committee will convene once again and the state-owned electricity producer ESM has the right to purchase electricity from abroad. A state of energy crisis is declared by the government after being proposed by the committee, helmed by the economy minister. In case it is declared, there are set of measures planned, including so called soft measures and steps the government should adopt, such as when street lights should be used and how much. “The committee, comprised of five members, is tasked with monitoring, analyzing and assessing the energy situation in the country. Today, it held its first meeting and I hope there will be no need to convene it again,” Minister Bekteshi told the news conference.