Skopje, 3 October 2024 (MIA) -- Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said Thursday a challenging winter was ahead as prices were expected to rise at the European electricity market due to the war in Ukraine, but the country, he said, was ready to respond to any challenge.

"I have a feeling this winter will be quite challenging not because of the temperatures but because of the situation in Ukraine, where the electric power system has been completely destroyed. Ukraine is now pulling energy from Europe, which will increase European electricity market prices and reduce quantities. So we need to be ready," PM Mickoski said, adding that he expected an energy crisis in Europe.

He said the state-owned Power Plants company was back to normal operation despite the debt of five billion denars the company was left in.

"Rest assured we have normalized the company's operations and people will be held responsible for what happened. But we will not turn this into theater and showbiz. Very soon, we will identify the culprits," Mickoski said.

Citing information made available to him, he said the country's debt for coal imports was around one and a half billion denars. For mining coal and coal tailings, he said, the country owed two billion denars. "The hydrology," he said, "is almost empty, at some 24-25 percent, and no regular maintenance has been done either."

Asked to comment on a recent statement by Organization of Employers of Macedonia head Vladanka Trajkoska that the government fell short of their expectations and did nothing in the first 100 days in power, the prime minister said he was surprised to hear this.

"I was surprised and I called some of the businessmen and some of the chambers and they said the opposite," Mickoski said. "You had better ask the economic chambers for their opinions and also the OEM president why she took that position without consulting any employers."

OEM president Trajkovska said Tuesday that employers expected from the government to show understanding for the problems they were facing, including productivity decline, labor shortage, and lacking infrastructure.

"We had high expectations, and got almost nothing," Trajkovska said.

"We expected from this government to be aware of the problems the business community is facing. However, we have been hearing only about public administration staff getting higher salaries, municipalities taking out loans, and problems being avoided when it comes to productivity and labor shortage in the economy. Which means, in a word, nothing," she said. mr/