Skopje, 2 September 2022 (MIA) – 3.1 billion denars or around EUR 50 million have been made available to ESM since Thursday, in order to increase production and secure additional electricity. The company called for the energy saving measures to be respected. Each kWh saved, said the electricity producing company, means lower coal, mazut and gas consumption. The Government is also calling for the measures to be respected. At the same time, it announced that over EUR 100 million have been secured in an effort to tackle the energy crisis. “ESM will use the financial support to acquire basic raw materials, coal, mazut etc. in order to continue the ensure supply of electricity,” said the Ministry of Finance. ESM announced it will make every effort to produce the necessary amount until the end of the heating season. “As long as we stick to the measures, the saved electricity can be directed towards business, especially towards the big companies and institutions that are buying electricity from the free market at very high prices and in that way, we would be able to offer them a certain amount at lower prices, thereby lowering their expenditures. Only by saving electricity can we help the hospitals, schools, kindergartens and the economy, and get out of this imposed crisis together,” said ESM. The President of the Energy and Water Services Regulatory Commission (ERC), Marko Bislimoski, echoed the calls to save electricity. “I believe that the entire public should take the saving measures more seriously, considering the electricity prices are 700 – 800 euro on the markets, no company is able to function normally in these conditions, especially the companies that have a production process. I believe that the country has to somehow help in this area in order to secure cheaper electricity,” said Bislimoski at a press conference. He assessed that ESM is offering a relatively low price for the needs of the regulatory market, especially to households. “All citizens can see on their bills that the cheap tariff costs 10 euro per mWh, while the market price is around 400, 500, 600 and even 800 euro on some days. The first block costs 71 euro, the second costs 76.5 euro, the third 86 euro and the extreme fourth block costs 229 euro. When you compare these prices to the market prices it is evident that the first and second blocks are around 10 times cheaper than the market price in Hungary, which is the reference market for our region,” clarified Bislimoski. The ERC is constantly tracking electricity suppliers and monitoring the market Bislimoski pointed out that for the first six months the selling price offered by the suppliers in the country is lower than the market price because the larger electricity suppliers have contracts made at much lower prices. “We don’t have complete data, but from what we have from the companies, the trade margins move around 5-20 percent, somewhere even 25 percent, but we still don’t have the final data,” said Bislimoski. He added that the ERC cannot limit the trade margins of electricity. “We need to follow the EU’s recommendations which determine a certain gap – the maximum that the trade margins can go to and I believe that soon this will happen in our country as well,” said Bislimoski. The President of the ERC assures there are no new additional electricity fees. According to him, the grid fee has always been paid for consumed electricity. However, the grid fees have increased due to the drastic increase in electricity losses. “When you add up the electricity cost and the grid fee you will get the total electricity price as it was before. There are no additional fees, the citizens receive a price of electricity as a product and a fee for using the grid. This is common practice in all EU member states,” clarified Bislimoski. TE-TO must work during the heating season “From a technical aspect it is necessary for TE-TO to work during the winter months, in order to stabilize the network. In my opinion, TE-TO must work during the winter months,” emphasized Bislimoski. The ERC President is convinced that the state will find a way to ensure the heating and electricity systems work. ad/ba/