Macedonian Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski told the media on Friday the Government remains committed to its strategy on data centers, adding that everything will be done publicly and transparently. He said negotiations are currently underway with 5-6 potential investors, one of which is a large multinational company.
Commenting on the current public controversy, the PM stresses that the specific initiative in the Municipality of Berovo is a private investment decided on by local authorities, but emphasized that the Government institutionally supports all projects of this type that are in line with the laws.
“As a country, we absolutely remain committed to our goal of developing such an industry, because that is the future and that process is irreversible. In line with the laws of course, in places where there are conditions and where this industry can develop. Absolutely, both politically, as a professor, and as an engineer, I stand behind the construction of a new industry and will fully support it, and the Government will take on the institutional risk,” said Mickoski.
He rejected the opposition’s criticisms regarding electricity consumption and cooling systems, assessing them as unprofessional and politically abused.
“This is a market democracy and a market society, the electricity will be paid for by the one who consumes it, at a price agreed on in the free market. As for cooling, messages that are 20 years old are being placed, and today there are completely different modern technologies depending on the purpose of those data centers,” noted the PM.
Mickoski announced that in addition to private investments, the country is also actively working on building its own capacities for digital protection and interoperability. Through the Reform Agenda with the European Union, from which grants and favorable loans have been secured, the construction of a national data center is planned, he said.
“We already have a secondary data center in Prilep, the so-called recovery data center. Through the Reform Agenda with the EU, we will build a new primary national data center that, through the interoperability system, will gather all institutions in one place and provide cyber protection. It will be connected to Prilep,
