Athens, 1 March 2026 (MIA) – Recently in the Maximos Mansion (the prime minister’s official residence) an interesting idea is being considered – the prime minister should visit Skopje in the coming period, Greece’s Kathimerini writes saying Kyriakos Mitsokakis might visit the capital on the occasion of the reactivation of the Thessaloniki-Skopje pipeline, MIA’s Athens correspondent reports.

According to the report, it will be decided in the coming period whether the Greek prime minister should visit the country.

In an article headlined “Proposals for Skopje visit”, Kathimerini writes that the idea comes as a result of a recent agreement by HELLENiQ ENERGY with the North Macedonia government over the reactivation of the 213-kilometer pipeline connecting Thessaloniki and Skopje, out of use since 2013, adding that oil derivatives, mainly diesel, would be transported from the refinery in Thessaloniki. 

“A restart would increase North Macedonia’s energy security by being energy dependent on Greece, considered an old foreign policy dogma for economic prodding in the Balkans,” writes Kathimerini.

If a visit were to be agreed, it would be Mitsotakis’s first visit to Skopje and a second one by a Greek prime minister in the past seven years. 

Earlier this week, the Energy Ministry said a pipeline set to transport diesel fuel from the refinery in Thessaloniki to the “Okta” refinery in Skopje is being restarted after 13 years.  

The pipeline, commissioned in 2002 for the transport of crude oil, became the subject of investments after 2013 aiming to convert it to infrastructure for the transport of diesel fuel.

The pipeline is 213.5 kilometers long, it includes 15 block valve stations for improved management and a high level of safety, storage capacities of 80.000 m³ in Greece and 30.000 m³ in North Macedonia, as well as a modern SCADA system that monitors pressure, temperature, and flow in real time, ensuring long-term reliability and efficiency.

MIA file photo