Snow hinders traffic in Macedonia, flights at Skopje airport realised without delay

Dojran lake

Traffic on the road network across Macedonia is severely hindered and difficult as a result of snowfalls.
Motorways are wet and slippery with snowdrifts. Low temperatures have caused frost to appear on mountains, ravines and bridges.
Heavy vehicles are barred on Krak Mavrovo - Debar and Debar - Struga and Struga - Kafasan as well as on mountain slopes Straza, Preseka, Bukovo and Gjavato.
The Auto-Moto Association of Macedonia says that light avalanches have occurred on mountain slopes Mavrovo, Straza and Gjavato due to intensive snowfalls and strong winds.
Drivers are reminded to adjust their speed and driving actions to the conditions especially on higher places and lanes where landslide is possible.
The intensity of the traffic is moderate outside the urban areas, and the same condition is taking place on the border crossings where there aren't any longer delays needed for accomplishing all the customs formalities.
Alexander the Great airport in Skopje is opened and functional. All morning take-offs and landings took place without delays.
Flights will be realised as scheduled throughout the day, because the runway is being cleaned round the clock.
St. Paul the Apostle airport in Ohrid is opened, even though there are no scheduled flights till Sunday afternoon.

Macedonia Continues to be pummelled by Snow

Traffic on the road network across Macedonia is severely hindered and difficult as a result of snowfalls.Motorways are wet and slippery with snowdrifts. Low temperatures have caused frost to appear on mountains, ravines and bridges.
Heavy vehicles are barred on Krak Mavrovo - Debar and Debar - Struga and Struga - Kafasan as well as on mountain slopes Straza, Preseka, Bukovo and Gjavato.
The Auto-Moto Association of Macedonia says that light avalanches have occurred on mountain slopes Mavrovo, Straza and Gavata due to intensive snowfalls and strong winds.
Drivers are reminded to adjust their speed and driving actions to the conditions especially on higher places and lanes where landslide is possible.
The intensity of the traffic is moderate outside the urban areas, and the same condition is taking place on the border crossings where there aren't any longer delays needed for accomplishing all the customs formalities.
Alexander the Great airport in Skopje is opened and functional. All morning take-offs and landings took place without delays.
Flights will be realised as scheduled throughout the day, because the runway is being cleaned round the clock.
St. Paul the Apostle airport in Ohrid is opened, even though there are no scheduled flights till Sunday afternoon.

Concert within festival "Valentine for Trifun"

Concert within festival "Valentine for Trifun", dedicated to the observance of Catholic St.Valentine and Orthodox St. Trifun, will be held at Skopje square "Macedonia" on Tuesday evening.
New and old bands will perform at the concert, organized by NGO "Youth for Europe".
Moreover, renowned Serbian ensemble "Kal" will play a mix of rock 'n roll, ska, funk with traditional Roma instruments violin and accordion.
"Valentin for Trifun" is held for the second year running.

Macedonia's Weather Forecast: Snow, Snow, Snow...

Intensive snowfalls throughout the country have slowed down road, railway and airline traffic.
The Auto-Motto Union of Macedonia said flow of traffic on the road network is slow due to snowfalls. Heavy vehicles are banned at road sections Mavrovo-Debar, Debar-Struga and Tetovo-Popova Sapka, as well as Straza mountain slope.
Trains from Skopje-based Railway Station depart and arrive with delays. The Skopje bus station has also reported delays in inter-city traffic.
There are no takeoffs or landings scheduled at Skopje airport "Alexander the Great" for the rest of the day. Planes have been re-directed to Sofia and Istanbul, whereas scheduled takeoffs to Vienna and Istanbul are cancelled.Snowfalls will intensify in the course of the evening, accompanied by northeast winds.

EBRD supports modernisation of Macedonian branded food producer

The EBRD is continuing to support the development of the private sector in the Western Balkans with a €2.5 million loan to one of the leading branded food producers in Macedonia – Vitaminka, the EBRD's Resident Office in Skopje said on Wednesday.
Vitaminka is one of the largest agribusiness companies in Macedonia, producing a wide array of branded food products under its own name as well as for other private labels - chocolate confectionary, crisp snacks, powdered products and additives, ketchup, mayonnaise and soft cookies. The company exports over 40 per cent of its products, primarily to Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovenia.
The proceeds of the EBRD loan will be used to finance the purchase of production and packaging equipment as well as for the implementation of modern energy efficiency measures at Vitaminka.
The project will enable Vitaminka to minimise operating costs and strengthen its competitiveness, as well as increase the production capacity for some of its most popular products.
"We are pleased to continue our cooperation with Vitaminka and to support the company’s development strategy and further growth. The new loan will help Vitaminka to increase the production volume of powdered drinks and crisp snacks, in order to meet the growing demand for these products and to improve its energy efficiency" said Elena Urumovska, Head of EBRD Skopje Resident Office.
"The EBRD financing will support our company’s development strategy for the coming years. Vitaminka’s objectives include expanding and modernising production capacities and product assortment, as well as raising energy efficiency standards in our company, improving productivity and working conditions in some of our production plants," said Simon Naumoski, President of the Management Board of Vitaminka.
In 2007 the EBRD provided a €4 million loan to Vitaminka to finance its investment programme that included procurement of the new production line for soft cookies and packaging equipment.
To date the EBRD has invested close to €950 million in the Macedonian economy through projects in the corporate, financial, infrastructure and energy sectors. The EBRD funds have attracted additional investments worth €1 billion from other sources.In the agribusiness sector alone, the EBRD has directly committed more than €7 billion in over 450 projects across central and eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States since 1991.

Mak Government Keeps Name of Major Investor Secret

A Car Factory will be built in the region between Veles and Kavadarci, which will employ 4,000 people.
This was announced today by PM Gruevski during his visit to the University for Mechanical Engineering in Skopje.
- They have yet to chose their location, however have already made a decision to invest and registered their company in Macedonia. According to their analysis, they will employ 4,000 people in the next two years. I don't believe we have a private or state firm that employs 4,000 people, said PM Gruevski.
According to the PM, the company will hire 300-400 people by the end of the year, while the rest will come in the next year.
- Where exactly they will build is solely their decision. As of this time we can't make the name of this company public, except that they are a major German company in the Auto sector.

Mak Government Keeps Name of Major Investor Secret

A Car Factory will be built in the region between Veles and Kavadarci, which will employ 4,000 people.
This was announced today by PM Gruevski during his visit to the University for Mechanical Engineering in Skopje.
- They have yet to chose their location, however have already made a decision to invest and registered their company in Macedonia. According to their analysis, they will employ 4,000 people in the next two years. I don't believe we have a private or state firm that employs 4,000 people, said PM Gruevski.
According to the PM, the company will hire 300-400 people by the end of the year, while the rest will come in the next year.- Where exactly they will build is solely their decision. As of this time we can't make the name of this company public, except that they are a major German company in the Auto sector.

British Business Group Opens New Office in Skopje

The British Business Group (BBG), whose main objective is to facilitate trade links between businessmen from the United Kingdom and Macedonia, has opened Wednesday a new office in Skopje. The Prince Michael of Kent was also in attendance at the event.
"Up until now, it was difficult for us to make contacts and to be reached, but as of now we get new premises where Macedonian entrepreneurs can come and collect information on establishing business contacts in the UK as well as British businessmen who are interested to launch a business in Macedonia," the BBG's Chairman, Ray Power stated.
He said he was satisfied with the visit of the top business delegation, led by Prince Michael of Kent, which has been visiting Macedonia upon an invitation by the BBG in the past few days.
"The goal was the British delegation to learn about the investment opportunities in Macedonia and to establish business contacts with Macedonian businessmen. Time is needed a final decision to be reached when it comes to investments. However, it is necessary to underline that significant efforts were made last year in analysing the economic situation for this business visit. I hope that concrete results from this visit will be evident before the summer," Ray Power said.
The British Business Group has been functioning for six years in Macedonia mainly on voluntary basis. As of this year, BBG members will start paying membership fees. The office will cover Macedonia and similar offices will be opened in other countries in the region if it makes successful projects. Several activities will be conducted this year aimed at attracting fresh British investments in Macedonia and organising a visit to London for Macedonian businessmen.

Heavy snowfall slows down traffic acros Macedonia

Snowfalls throughout Macedonia have slowed down traffic. There are no significant delays in road, railway and airline traffic, but heavy vehicles are banned at several road sections.
The Auto-Motto Union of Macedonia said flow of traffic on the road network is slow due to snowfalls.
Heavy vehicles are banned at road sections Mavrovo - Debar, Struga - Kjafasan, Struga - Debar, Makedonski Brod - Prilep, as well as Straza, Bukovo, Gjavato, Pletvar and Preseka mountian slopes. Winter equipment is obligatory for all vehicles at Kriva Palanka - Deve Bair road.
Drivers are reminded to adjust their speed to the winter conditions, especially at road sections Katlanovo-Veles and Debar-Struga where landslides are possible. Intensity of traffic is moderate outside urban areas. No longer delays are reported at border crossings for country entry and exit.
Despite snowfalls, there are no delays in the airline traffic at Skopje airport "Alexander the Great", whereas trains from Skopje-based Railway Station depart with slight delays. Moreover, the Skopje bus station has reported delays not exceeding 15 minutes.
The Hydrometeorological Administration has said snowfalls will be intensive, especially in the country's western and southern regions, accompanied by southeast winds.
Temperatures will range between -9C and 0C.
Similar weather in Skopje with temperatures up to -3C.

Macedonia to Build First Wind Farm

Macedonian power utility ELEM said on Tuesday it had signed a deal with a consortium of Greek builder Terna and German engineering firm Siemens to build the Balkan country's first wind farm.
The deal includes procurement and installation of wind turbines and construction of accompanying infrastructure, such as power stations and power lines to connect the future farm to the grid, ELEM said in a statement.
The total value of the deal for the 37 MW wind plant amounts to 55 million euros ($72.13 million), of which 33 million would be provided by Germany's state-owned KfW Bank and the remainder by ELEM, it added.
ELEM operates 1,329 MW of power-generating capacity, of which 60 percent is coal-fired and 40 percent hydro power. The new wind farm would add 100 GWh of electricity generation per year.
In 2011 the utility produced 6,043 GWh of electricity, nearly 7 percent down from a year earlier due to a prolonged drought in the Balkans that has pushed water levels to record lows.