Skopje, 26 December 2025 (MIA) – The government, within its competencies, will act on the conclusions adopted by the Skopje City Council on Thursday on relocating the USJE cement plant and conducting extraordinary inspections of major polluters, Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said Friday.

Answering journalists’ questions after the promotion of 120 new police vehicles for the needs of the Interior Ministry, he underscored that extraordinary inspections are being conducted continuously.

“Regarding the relocation, that poses no problem for the government. Anything that affects citizens is also a concern for the government. What I want to focus on is the core issue: pollution results from decades of neglect in providing citizens with alternative energy sources to heat their homes during the winter season,” Mickoski said.

According to Mickoski, the citizens should have access to district heating and gas at both the eastern and western parts of the city.

“This is decades-long neglect. That is the core essence of this entire process. As a government, we are working on this and developing a project, and I expect that by the beginning of next year we will have the details. We are already in talks with the investor with whom we signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a cogeneration gas power plant, which we are confident will significantly address the problem of heating homes both the eastern and western parts of the city,” Mickoski said.

“For that, time is needed,” he emphasized.

“The pressure is great, but what matters is that we have a goal and that we are moving toward achieving it. I understand the citizens, they are always right. After all, we all live here and breathe the same air, just as in other cities in Macedonia that do not have such industrial facilities but still record extremely high concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10,” Mickoski stated.

He said that a systemic solution and a holistic approach are necessary, underlining that this is the approach they are taking.

Photo: screenshot