English
Gradsko – Drenovo, the first section of the expressway that will connect Prilep to the main north – south highway, was opened today. At a ceremony, Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski and Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Nikoloski said that this long awaited road will help connect the country.
We began the year by opening the beautiful expressway that connects Kumanovo and Kriva Palanka. Now we open this exquisit road, part of the Corridor 10, and in a few days we will open the first section of the railroad to Bulgaria, from Kumanovo to Beljakovce. Let this be the way we begin the year and a reminder that these projects easily could’ve ended up as unused reminders of a bad time that we are all trying to forget, Mickoski said.
The road is worth 37.5 million EUR, 26.7 million of which were provided through EU’s IPA funds. It has three intersections, near Gradsko, Rosoman and Drenovo, where it enters into the challenging terrain of the Drenovo gorge, where work has been going on for over a decade.
We are also trying to provide funding for a round-about around Bitola toward the border with Greece, that will enable a speedy connection for a million vehicles a year. We continue to work on Corridor 8, and until the latest snowfall construction was going on at the Kicevo – Ohrid highway, a section of which I expect to see put in service at the beginning of the summer season, and the entire highway will be finished by 2026, Mickoski added.
Deputy Prime Minister and Transportation Minister Nikoloski said that this road, and the planned Bitola – Prilep highway, will enable a quick connection to the Bitola border crossing with Greece. He cited the numerous problems that the Government inherited in the implementation of this project.
We are elected to work, not complain or give excuses, but before me is the first report I was given when I became Minister – the progress report on this expressway. In short, there were no workers, no activities, the inclines were not prepared and about 13 million EUR were missing. The previous Government refused to sign to addendums to the contract and refused to form a commission. The new Government formed this commission in July, the contracts were completed by mid September, and since then, work has been progressing literally until New Year, Nikoloski said.
EU Ambassador to Macedonia Michalis Rokas also attended the opening of the expressway. He said that the road is a vital link of a corridor going from Austria to Greece, “connecting current and future EU member states”.
Work is progressing on the second section of this expressway, through the Drenovo gorge, where two major tunnels are being completed. After that, the plan is to continue to expand the Pletvar mountain pass, which will help cut down travel time from Skopje to Prilep to just an hour and 10 minutes.
