Skopje, 11 September 2025 (MIA) — The government and the new mayor of Skopje will permanently solve the Drisla and Vardarishte landfill problem, Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said Thursday, adding that electricity could be generated from landfill waste.

According to PM Mickoski, the ongoing landfill fires in Skopje were used by some to stir panic ahead of the local elections.

He said the state, due to good organization and timely actions, had "successfully completed the fire season," avoiding the material damage to movable and immovable property that other countries in the region had faced this summer.

"This has obviously bothered some people and they are using this to create panic and discontent ahead of the elections," Mickoski said.

He said the landfill problem was decades-long but his government would solve it.

"We are working with the transport minister on getting socially responsible construction companies to bring in machinery to Vardarishte and Drisla and act internally to prevent this from happening again and again," the prime minister said in response to reporters.

He stressed that the police had detained three people suspected of starting the Vardarishte illegal landfill fire. He also said an investigation into the Drisla landfill fire was under way.

"What the state needs to do, it will do, but the perpetrators will also be found and sanctioned," Mickoski said.

"Just as we have solved many things in these 15 months, we will solve this problem too," he said, adding that the government was sure to find a solution together with the new Skopje mayor. 

"Because we need a waste plant here, a production unit to use methane to generate electricity. We have plans for a permanent solution to this problem in Skopje but also on the entire territory of Macedonia," Mickoski said.

He also announced a national Zero Waste Strategy that was in the works and would be presented at a public debate. mr/