Skopje, 28 September 2022 (MIA) - The measures taken to improve energy efficiency of households and the replacement of old heaters and stoves with new ones in more than 120 households in the Skopje settlement of Lisiche have produced results reducing air pollution in the area, show the findings of a Swedish-funded project on addressing pollution in the capital Skopje. The analysis were presented Wednesday at a closing conference as part of the project, implemented by UNDP in cooperation with the Environment Ministry and the City of Skopje. As part of the project, estimated at over two million US dollars, a total of 129 at-risk households were awarded financial assistance to replace old doors and windows with new ones, renovate facades to be energy efficient and rooftops to be also renovated, inverter air conditioners to be installed and old stoves to be replaced with new ones on pellets. Data, used to make the analyses, were gathered from several mobile and fixed air pollution measuring stations, installed in the past two years across the settlement. They were analyzed with state-of-the-art equipment at the Goce Delchev University in Shtip. Speaking at the event, Swedish Ambassador Ami Larsson Jain said that now more than ever it is important that air pollution is in the focus because public health should always be the top priority of the decision-makers. Environment Minister Naser Nuredini said that the question of what winter will bring is inevitable amid a global energy crisis. "We remain committed to the recommendations that we should pay attention to what kind of energy we use for heating and to use energy that is less damaging to the environment because our health is at stake," he said. UNDP Resident Representative Armen Grigoryan said that science, knowledge, institutional assistance, vision and optimism were brought together in cooperation with several institutions and organizations as part of the pilot project in Skopje's Lisiche. According to him, the goal that was met with donors, the institutions and partners is the establishment of a functioning platform for working together to tackle air pollution in an adequate and sustainable way. Timcho Mucinski, the Mayor of the Municipality of Aerodrom, where Lisiche is part of, said it is of vital importance for the quality of life in the municipality to find models to contribute to reducing air pollution and pollution of the environment in general.