VMRO-DPMNE President Hristijan Mickoski, who is former head of the ELEM public energy company, warned that the REK Bitola coal mine is being damaged with reckless mining, as Macedonia faces an energy crisis. Due to neglect in planned mining and developing new digs, the coal plant in Bitola which provides the bulk of Macedonia’s domestic electricity, is now almost without coal, and an attempt to purchase the needed quantities in Kosovo is getting nowhere.

Now we see there is reckless digging in Bitola, against the laid out plans, with the intent to provide the necessary coal for the next day. This will create even more serious problems in the future, and all of us will be stuck with the bill. I call on the Government to get serious and face this new situation which was months in the making. We are in for an exceptionally cold winter, with spikes in electricity demand, and we need to avoid blackouts, Mickoski said.