English
The massive theft of copper and other valuable parts from power relay stations operated by the Macedonian Railroads company in Dracevo could not have been possible without help from the inside, said Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Nikoloski. The heavy machines were robbed in one night, causing damage of over five million EUR, only for the robbers to profit about 100,000 EUR from the stolen copper.
Sources from the company say that it is almost impossible that the theft could have been carried out without the help of their colleagues, because the thieves had a lot of information that only a limited number of employees knew and the technical knowledge necessary for such an operation. They caused damage of 5 million euros to make about 100 thousand euros from the sale of copper. The police are still searching for the thieves who damaged the transformers and stole all the copper, leaving the substation out of operation for a long period. During the theft, two transformers weighing 27 tons each were moved by 5 meters. This indicates that the thieves came prepared with specialized tools and machinery, hydraulic jacks. This is a facility next to the railway tracks, outside of a populated area, which is fenced off and under video surveillance. The substation operates at a high voltage of 25 thousand volts and the electricity can kill a person just by approaching the cable, said Nikoloski.
This is something that only highly skilled people can do, an ordinary person cannot handle high voltage electricity, and the machinery used there cannot be found just anwhere, said Nikoloski. He assured the public that the robbers will be found, as the police is investigating the small number of places where the stolen copper could be sold.