Skopje, 11 May 2026 (MIA) - Construction is actively underway on an 11-kilometre stretch of the 31-kilometre Gostivar-Bukojchani motorway, with completion reaching 60 percent, while construction along the 17.5-kilometre Tetovo-Gostivar motorway is actively underway on a 14-kilometre stretch, with completion reaching 8.4 percent. The Government says it is taking all necessary steps to enable contractors complete this and other Bechtel & Enka projects as soon as possible, highlighting active progress in the construction of more than 50 kilometres of the route along the two corridors, VIII and Xd.  

Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport Aleksandar Nikoloski, and the head of the State Roads public enterprise Koce Trajanovski oversaw construction works along the motorway sections on Monday. 

"Regarding the Tetovo-Gostivar section, the public has somehow accepted the perception that it is a motorway, but in essence it is an expressway. For the first time, a motorway will be built on this section. The second is the Gostivar-Bukojchani section where we are today. I think it was unimaginable for many that there will ever be a motorway bypassing Strazha, and that the most difficult part of the connection with Ohrid and Struga and the entire Corridor VIII, which is the Strazha mountain pass, will be avoided. And you can see here in front of us that intensive work is underway on bridges, on the motorway, on protecting the slopes," said Nikoloski.

He pointed out that advanced engineering works are in full swing. 

"Unfortunately, the previous government had not done anything. In November last year, we received a notification from the supervising engineer, who requested that the completion deadline be extended by two years to account for the two years lost. Therefore, we will go with December 2029 as deadline, which does not mean that it will not be completed earlier," Nikoloski said. 

He said he did not expect changes in the cost price, but the deadline had to be extended because of the previous government. "Expropriation is complete. Regarding Gostivar-Bukojchani, the urban plan for the second part was adopted at a government session, and regarding the Prilep-Bitola urban project, the expropriation is being done based on that and we no longer have such open issues, i.e. the state's obligation is completed," said Nikoloski.  

He expressed hope that one lane of the Prilep-Bitola motorway will be fully opened early next year, and the Gostivar-Bukojchani motorway, he added, must be fully opened as there is nowhere to exit on the other side if it is not completed. 

Deputy PM Nikoloski also stressed the importance of the infrastructure projects for the GDP. "I am proud that in the third quarter of last year, growth in construction was 21 percent, and 16.7 percent in the fourth quarter. We expect good numbers for the first quarter of this year and for it to continue into the coming period," said Nikoloski. 

Progress on the Bechtel & Enka motorway sections from March 2023 to June 2024 totalled EUR 241.3 million, of which EUR 19.6 million were for construction works. From July 2024 to May 2026, EUR 278.4 million were paid for construction works alone.
For the sections of this project, expropriation of over 3,000 plots has been completed so far, of which 560 by June 2024, and 2,483 plots by May 2026.

Photo: MIA