English
Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said that the long delayed Kicevo – Ohrid highway will be made operational in September or October, likely in time for Independence Day – September 8th, while the highway will be fully open for the public in the first quarter of 2027. The final work was financed by a consortium of domestic banks, and the loan agreement with the Chinese Ex-Im bank was broken off.
Construction on the connected highway Kicevo – Bukojcani is expected to begin in fall.
Meanwhile, an appeal process is on-going for the planned Skopje – Blace highway that will link Macedonia to Kosovo, and will be worth 215 million EUR. Work is expected to begin as early as this month.
On the Bechtel-Enka project, the company is working on three highways simultaneously – Tetovo-Gostivar, Gostivar-Bukojcani (Kicevo) and Prilep – Bitola. The first 11.5 kilometers of the Bitola – Prilep highway will be open for use in September 2027, the Prime Minister said, and the intention is that 250 million EUR will go toward the Bechtel projects every year, for the next there years. This means that at one point, six highways will be built at the same time.