Macedonian citizens will soon benefit from a modern border crossing as part of Corridor 8, which sends a strong political message after previous accusations that this corridor was not a priority, Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said today. His comments were made during the official event marking the start of the project to construct a new modern administrative facility at the customs clearance terminal, as well as the complete reconstruction of the existing administrative building at the Deve Bair border crossing.

The project, financed by a World Bank loan amounting to 96 million denars, aims to modernize the border crossing infrastructure.

The event was also attended by the Minister of Transport and Communications, Aleksandar Nikoloski, the Director of the Customs Administration, Boban Nikolovski, and Massimiliano Paolucci, a representative of the World Bank in Macedonia. Paolucci emphasized that the Macedonian citizens who will repay the loans taken by the government will benefit from European-standard border crossings, eliminating the crowding and delays of the past. Additionally, the Customs’ work will become more efficient.

As of September this year, 88,213 trucks passed through this border crossing, marking an 11% increase compared to last year. In terms of revenue collection, 1.4 billion denars were collected from the Deve Bair goods clearance terminal, an increase of 110 million denars from the previous year. Officials expect this upward trend to continue. Paolucci also highlighted that the World Bank supports various projects in the region, especially those aimed at facilitating trade and transport in the Western Balkans, improving transport efficiency, and increasing access to trade and investment.

This modernization is just the beginning. In the next phase, the expansion of the lanes at Deve Bair will be implemented. Minister Nikoloski noted that the reconstruction of the first phase is expected to be completed by May 2025, with work already underway on the development plan for the second phase. If reconstruction begins in 2025, the border crossing at Deve Bair will be completely modernized by 2026.