Skopje, 12 September 2024 (MIA) – Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski, joined by Minister of Sports Borko Ristovski and Butel Municipality Mayor Darko Kostovski, officially opened on Thursday the sports and recreation center in Ljubotenski Pat at the Municipality of Butel. The project, worth 8.1 million denars, was funded from the municipal budget.

The sports and recreation center includes a football field with artificial grass, a basketball court with a specialized surface, along with a children's playground, a mini park, and a walking area for residents.

“This wonderful sports and recreation center is named ‘Defenders’ in tribute to all those who defended the homeland when it was needed. Before the elections, I pledged to build two sports and recreation centers, but by the end of my term, every residential area will have its own. This is the fourth center so far, and we will start four more this fall: one similar to this in Butel 1, another will begin in a few days in Radishani, just below Aco Shopov school, one in the upper part of Radishani, and one in the initial part of Kuchevishka Bara,” Mayor Kostovski said.

He highlighted that approximately 15 additional sports fields have been constructed over the past three years.

“Yesterday, the Municipality of Butel submitted the necessary projects for the government’s mega project supporting municipalities. We sent two major projects and several smaller ones, and we are expected to receive 100 million denars by the New Yea,” he added.

He announced that for the next year, the Municipality of Butel is set to receive approximately 4.5 million euros through the government’s project. This funding will be allocated for a new polyclinic in the municipality. A meeting with Health Minister Arben Taravari has been held, working groups have been established, and the project is already underway.

Prime Minister Mickoski noted that the Municipality of Butel is significantly engaged in terms of capital investments. He mentioned that yesterday, Butel, together with 65 other municipalities, submitted more than 215 projects. These projects are part of an initiative to reallocate funds from the central budget to municipalities to address the real needs of the citizens.

“More than hundreds of thousands of our fellow citizens will have their real problems, which have accumulated over the past decades, addressed. I am confident that the implementation of these capital investments will continue in the future and in the next year, 2025. As a government, we will support the construction of a polyclinic in Butel, and I believe that with the completion of all these projects, many of Butel’s residents' problems will be resolved, but also everywhere across the country for citizens who faced such challenges over the past decades,” Mickoski said.

As of yesterday, he noted, the projects submitted by 66 municipalities include not only those from the coalition led by VMRO-DPMNE but also municipalities from SDSM, DUI, and other members of the ‘Worth It’ coalition, the political party ZNAM, and independent candidates who are mayors.

“I am pleased and expect that today we will receive additional proposals, reaching a total of 250 projects. This means better living conditions for hundreds of families, and that is the essence of this project: to create something that will adequately address the real needs of the citizens, while also implementing as many capital investments as possible and driving the economy forward. That’s why the Hungarian loan is necessary. It’s not only about the 250 million euros for municipalities, but also the 250 million euros for businesses, which will generate an additional 250 million euros in private investment. This means we will see a total investment activity of 500 million euros, plus the 250 million euros from the municipalities. Such a scale of investment has not occurred before,” Mickovski told reporters.

Photo: Government/MIA