Companies are bracing for a major energy shock in 2022, as the electricity prices spike in light of collapsing domestic production. Drilon Iseni from the Chamber of commerce of North-Western Macedonia, which represents mainly ethnic Albanian owned businesses, said that nobody is prepared for the blow that is coming.

The price hike will be a general blow not only to companies but also to consumers. Economic activity and purchasing power can drop significantly. Nobody is prepared for the price shock that can happen, Iseni said.

He called on the Government to drop some of the damaging measures it is putting in place, such as declaring Sunday a day off, and the price freeze it ordered on many staple items such as milk, flour, eggs and meat. Iseni called on the Government to focus on expanding renewable energy production and to reimburse the VAT tax paid by companies as soon as possible.