Energy regulatory agency director Marko Bislimoski said that the consumers should expect high electricity prices through the next year. Macedonia suffered a near total collapse of domestic electricity production in late 2021, due to corruption and mismanagement in the state energy companies, and was forced to spend over 100 million EUR on imports.

We know as a fact that energy prices in Europe and in the region remain high, at 220 to 250 EUR per megawatt hour and the expectations are that this will continue through 2023, Bislimoski said.

His agency hiked the household electricity price by about 15 percent, and it remains highly subsidized through the budget, as public funds are used to purchase coal and to cover energy imports.