Skopje, 26 May 2025 (MIA) - The Government is taking measures and steps to reduce air pollution, some can be immediately realized while others will take time, said Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski at Parliament’s oversight hearing concerning the environment. The Prime Minister agreed that air pollution poses an issue every winter, noting that little or nothing has been done over the past decades to ensure cleaner air.

The Prime Minister stressed the heating of households as well as public and industrial buildings is the biggest cause of air pollution.

“Regarding the air quality, the biggest cause [of air pollution], I would agree with you, is precisely what you said, the system of heating households. But also industrial buildings, public buildings. We have many public buildings that still use fossil fuels for heating,” Mickoski said.

Mickoski said the construction of cogeneration gas plants, which would produce both electricity and heating, can solve the issue.

“This is one of our main priorities and, we will continue fighting in that direction, especially when it comes to securing a centralized heating system for homes, public buildings and industrial capacities. This can usually be solved with the construction of so-called cogeneration gas plants, which can produce both electricity and heating. But for all of that to be realized we also need underground infrastructure to transfer the heat to households, public buildings and industrial buildings,” the PM said.

However, the Prime Minister stressed that households should not be blamed since they have not been given an alternative, noting that central heating is only available in parts of Skopje and some municipalities.

Quizzed by MP Olga Lozanovska about the impact of transportation on air quality, Mickoski said they are in the final stages of publishing a public procurement for 120 electric buses, which would be distributed to municipalities that have organized public transport.

Photo: MIA