The large USJE cement factory in Skopje, operated by the Greek Titan group, denied allegations from Skopje Mayor Danela Arsovska that they are polluting the air in the capital. At a press conference, Arsovska said that two tests found that emissions of harmful particles were far above the allowed levels and asked the prosecutors to initiate criminal action.
According to the company, there was only one control – outside of the regular scheduled controls – carried out on January 3rd and 4th, and it found that the emissions were lower that the criteria it needs to meet.
The measurements carried out by state and city inspectors again confirmed that there is no correlation between the work of the cement factory and the quality of ambient air in the city. The results showed that the concentration of PM10 particles was actually lower around the USJE factory than in other parts of the city, the company said.
In the statement, the management acknowledged that it started using heating oil instead of gas to heat the offices, due to the energy crisis in Macedonia, but USJE insists that this is an allowed form of heating. “There was one extraordinary reading, near a heating furnace that is not part of the production process of the company. We will immediately switch to using gas for heating”, USJE said.
The company was originally built on the outskirts of Skopje, but as the city expanded, it is now close to densely populated highrise areas. In 2019 it was revealed that it is using compressed colored textiles imported as trash from Europe and petroleum coke in its production line. The Government then protected the company, insisting that the process is safe.
Skopje suffers from horrific levels of air pollution in the winter time, attributed mainly to the use of wood and coal for heating of houses, and the low lying eastern parts of the city, where USJE is located, are badly affected. The end of December and the beginning of January were particularly bad, before more favorable winds cleared up the sky to a degree over the past week.
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