Skopje, 12 August 2024 (MIA) — The newly founded Ministry of Energy, Mining and Minerals said in a press release Monday that it welcomed all initiatives for greater responsibility and transparency in the field of energy, including the public policy document published by the Institute for Democracy Societas Civilis, in which it said "intensified foreign and domestic lobbying," "conflict of interest" and "weak human and material resources" in the new ministry were some of the corruption risks the new Parliament should pay special attention to.

"Special vigilance is expected from the new parliamentary composition when passing laws related to the work of the new Ministry," the IDSC document said.

In its response, the Ministry of Energy, Mining and Minerals said it was established to reduce corruption. "It is precisely because this type of institution did not exist," the release said, "decisions were made and procedures started without laws, but on the basis of rules and decisions of government sessions the public knew very little about. We have to put an end to this practice."

The new Ministry of Energy, according to the release, will be extremely transparent in every procedure, hold a public debate on every issue, and provide information to all stakeholders in the energy sector so it can restore trust in the state institutions.

Although newly established, they have initiated auditing procedures of all institutions under its authority; are in the process of revising public procurement oprocedures; and cancelled a MEPSO tender worth EUR 900,000 because the company that had won the contract had no capacity or resources to implement it, they said.

The new Ministry of Energy has also heeded the criticism of the Energy Community for not implementing amendments to the Energy Law and the Law on Renewable Energy Sources and it formed a working group – consisting of representatives of MEPSO, ESM, EVN, EBRD and the Energy Community – to draft the amendments before puting them up for public discussion. 

Inviting members of the public and civil society to follow their work, the Ministry of Energy also asked for "support for our work because it is in the interest of the public, in the interest of the state, to drastically reduce corruption in the field of energy, which is why this ministry was established," they reiterated. mr/