Athens, 5 February 2025 (MIA) - Even though we are a small country, we are still an important junction, and we need to be connected to all neighboring countries to ensure energy stability, Minister of Energy, Mining and Mineral Resources told MIA’s Athens correspondent following her participation in the 14th Athens Energy Summit.

On the sidelines of the Summit in Athens, Bozhinovska met with her Greek counterpart, Minister of Environment and Energy Theodoros Skylakakis, and with the Minister of Energy, Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Cyprus, Giorgos Papanastasiou. 

The main topic discussed by Bozhinovska and Skylakakis was the natural gas interconnector between the two countries. The Minister said they are awaiting approval from the European Investment Bank in order to sign a contract with the operator and begin construction on the interconnector.

Bozhinovska said they also discussed linking the electricity markets of the two countries.

“This is a priority for us, to connect with their electricity exchange, since it would be a connection with an EU member state. This is very important for us and of course there are many Greek investments in energy, so we exchanged experiences,” Bozhinovska said.

Following her meeting with Cypriot Minister Papanastasiou, Bozhinovska said there is an opportunity for Nicosia to aid Skopje with its experiences in energy projects.

“With the Cypriot Minister we discussed an exchange of experiences, since they have a lot of production from renewable sources of energy,” the Minister told MIA. 

Regarding North Macedonia’s role in the region, the Minister said projects are being implemented with the neighboring countries, both in terms of natural gas and electricity, highlighting the significance of connectivity with all neighboring countries.

“Even though we are one of the smallest countries in the region, our geographic position is very important since we are a junction. Of course, we will see this now with gas, we have one connection with Bulgaria, now we will have another one with Greece. Last year I signed a cooperation memorandum with the Republic of Serbia, here we have 25 kilometers that need to be constructed, and we are working on that, which means that a transit route will pass through the country and it will supply not only Serbia, but also Hungary and Austria,” the Minister said.

Regarding electricity, Bozhinovska said the country is connected to all its neighbors except for Albania, but a tender procedure is underway for a connection between the two countries.

“This is being done with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and as you know Albania is connected to Italy and we can be a transit point in the route Bulgaria – Macedonia – Albania – Italy, but also from Greece, which would mean we are connected with all our neighbors and that is good,” the Minister said. 

In terms of energy challenges the country could potentially face in the future, Bozhinovska highlighted the need to up domestic production to avoid being dependent on imports. Specifically, about the impact of Russia’s war against Ukraine, Bozhinovska said it affected gas prices but, she said, the country doesn’t consume a lot of gas.

“We had a crisis, it was a price crisis, there was no energy shortage, but the prices were as high as EUR 1.000 per megawatt hour. I hope this won’t happen again, but no one can influence the geopolitical situation. We hope we will increase our domestic production, and once we increase our domestic production, we won’t have to be dependent on imports, which means that other factors won’t result in price hikes,” the Minister told MIA.

Bozhinovska, alongside her Greek and Cypriot counterparts, participated in a panel discussion at the Athens Energy Summit titled “Energy's Great Game: Geopolitics and the Global Energy Market”. 

Photo: MIA