Skopje, 12 October 2022 (MIA) – Minister of Environment and Physical Planning Naser Nuredini held several bilateral meetings, as part of the Regional Clean Energy Outlook Conference in Istanbul, focused on the challenges caused by the global energy crisis, the possibilities to overcome it and the orientation towards clean energy. Minister Nuredini and Matthew Baldwin, Deputy Director General at the European Commission’s Department of Energy presented the activities of both institutions to tackle the energy crisis, as well as the possibilities for easing the financial burden of high electricity bills on the end users – businessmen and individual households, through subsidies from the central budget. The possibility of EU aid in securing gas from various sources, especially for Skopje, was also discussed. The interconnector with Greece was assessed as very important not only for North Macedonia, but also for the entire region, the Ministry of ENvironment and Physical Planning said in a press release. Nuredini also held a meeting with Alparslan Bayraktar, Deputy Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of Turkey, which focused on the possibility of support from Turkey as a gas transit country for the European continent in providing gas to North Macedonia, in case of need. Discussions with Grzegorz Zielinski, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Director and Head of Energy Europe tackled the projects currently being realized in the country with the bank's support, as well as the possibility of future cooperation. Constructive talks on ways to tackle the energy crisis through greater regional support were also held with George Sergiu Niculescu, Secretary of State at the Romanian Ministry of Energy, reads the press release. ad/ik/