Skopje, 18 October 2022 (MIA) – Makpetrol will not deliver natural gas for the needs of the 'Istok' and 'Zapad' heating plants in Skopje managed by ESM, the company said on Tuesday. Makpetrol said they submitted a proposal for the provision of natural gas for the November operations of the 'Istok' and 'Zapad' heating plants on October 12, but they have not received a reply from ESM. “The deadline by which ESM had to accept the offer expired yesterday, which was also when Makpetrol had to report the quantity of gas it intends to acquire from its supplier and pay for it. ESM did not confirm the quantity it requires, and as a result Makpetrol reported the quantities necessary to satisfy the needs of the rest of its consumers, without the quantities necessary for the 'Istok' and 'Zapad' heating plants,” said the company. The Government informed on Monday that during this week they expect to receive offers for the provision of the necessary quantities of natural gas for November. Apart from Makpetrol, they are expecting offers from two or three other companies. “The offer by Makpetrol has already been received, however we are awaiting a few more offers. We will determine which offer is optimal and accept it. The gas from the offers will be used for heating plants East and West, as well as North if an agreement is made, but also to begin operations of the private plant TE-TO in November, in order to produce more electricity, so that we can strengthen the energy system of the country and receive heating energy at the same time. The plant will meet 60 percent of the heating energy needs of Skopje,” said the head of ESM, Vasko Kovachevski, on Monday. Natural gas is acquired on a monthly basis, the offers for the subsequent month are received by the 20^th day of the previous month. ad/nn/