The Government has no strategy for the energy situation in the country nor intends to invest in REK Bitola, said VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski in Bitola on Sunday.
In a statement for the media, Mickoski reminded in what situation was then AD ELEM in 2017, and in what situation is now AD ESM.
“What is happening with energy in Europe and in the world is a serious problem that we will have next year, and we talked about that in Ljubljana with Ursula von der Leyen, and that is a problem in the EU, but there is a strategy there. We do not have a strategy, i.e. the strategy is for the citizens to give 20 million euros, thus to bring coal from Kosovo and to burn that coal in Bitola. I guess whose trucks will transport that coal. It is about 400 to 500 trucks a day or every day, which will go through Bitola, and in other words it is a plan that will be earned again. Unfortunately, they are still not ready to overhaul the blocks, they are not ready to dig sufficient quantities of coal and the situation is difficult,” said Mickoski.
The new government led by VMRO-DPMNE, the leader stressed, has a plan on how to proceed with REK Bitola, how to deal with the problems.
“The plans for shutting REK Bitola down will not only not be implemented, but completely terminated. In the then JSC ELEM in 2017 we left 1.5 billion denars in deposits in banks, then about 360 million denars were on the account and the liabilities to suppliers and employees were paid in the form of K-15. To illustrate, they ended 2020 with 16.8 million euros in deficit and if we add to that the losses of MEPSO which are around 6 million euros, then we reach 22 million euros in 2020 alone, and I expect this 2021 that number to be duplicated. We have a plan for investing in environmental standards, a plan for extending the working life of REK Bitola. We see REK Bitola as one of the foundations on which our statehood is based. We will not allow but to say goodbye to REK Bitola, on the contrary we will invest in his working life,” said Mickoski during a rally in Bitola.
