Skopje, 7 September 2024 (MIA) — By the end of 2026, citizens will be driving on a new highway between Kichevo and Ohrid, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport Aleksandar Nikoloski told Fokus weekly.

In the interview, Minister Nikoloski stressed there were many problems in the construction of this highway, primarily because the land did not meet the geological standards for building a highway.

"There are numerous problems," the transport minister said. "But as I've said before, I will not bother the public with problems, because the public is tired of excuses. What I can say is that we will keep our word and by the end of 2026 you will have a working Kichevo-Ohrid highway." 

"Regarding slopes, we are facing several problems. This is an extremely difficult mountain terrain. We like saying Macedonia is an agricultural country, but looking at the map, 80 percent are mountains. So this is land that does not meet the classic geological standards for highway construction," Nikoloski added.

Asked why geological surveys were not done during the planning stages, Nikoloski said mistakes had been made.

"That's the second problem. Many mistakes were made in the design, but mistakes were also made in the execution. I am now looking for solutions and we will solve the problem," the transport minister said.

"By the end of 2026, we will have a working highway," he reiterated.

In the Fokus interview, Nikoloski also noted the need of investigating the competition for the supervision of Corridors 8 and 10, asking how it was possible that top companies from France and the USA lost to a company from Italy who no one had heard of.

"Unfortunately, the previous government of Zoran Zaev, Dimitar Kovachevski and Artan Grubi signed the agreement saying that in order to declassify it, both parties have to agree. Immediately after becoming Minister of Transport, I asked them to declassify it, but the other side did not allow it," he said.

"And the agreement is publicly known, I personally showed it. I was the only politician in the opposition who had the courage to show it to the public and that's that," Nikoloski said. mr/