Skopje, 22 March 2026 (MIA) - The country's energy sector is stable, blocs 1 and 3 of the of mining-energy combine (REK) Bitola are in operation. We have about 80,000 tons of coal in the landfill in Bitola, 160,000 tons in Kichevo, accumulations are at a level of 40 percent, but everything is functioning normally and the energy system is absolutely stable, Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski told a press conference after Sunday's government session at which it decided to slash fuel VAT and to release emergency oil stocks in order to hedge against spikes in energy and product prices.

Mickoski pointed out that the price of crude oil is the only challenge, as it is related to the price set by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC). Therefore, he announced, for the next session on Tuesday, the Government is mulling a decision by which the state will deploy a targeted amount of crude oil for ESM, about 2,000 tons.

"Thus, we will not allow the company's costs to increase. Given the favorable hydrological situation and the consolidation of the mines, we can finally say that the situation is normalized and stable in ESM, and we do not want to allow these higher crude oul prices to cause an imbalance in the company's financial portfolio. They perform a regulated activity, then they report it to the ERC and based on that and based on the costs, the price of electricity for households increases," said Mickoski. 

He added that with such intervention the Government expects to prevent a price hike, i.e. to have a positive impact again and maintain the standard of living of the citizens.

"And thus, to ensure a record low level of inflation, compared to other countries in Europe," the PM said. 

Photo: print screen