Mickoski: The Čebren–Galište project could be realized as a state investment, the U.S. DFC expected to be a partner

Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said that after meetings with representatives of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) in the United States, the Government expects that in the coming period the concept for the Čebren and Galište capital project will be developed, the investment holder determined, and the financial structure for its realization defined. “So, in the near future we can expect something concrete,” Mickoski said on TV Alfa’s “Under the Magnifier” show, as the state news agency MIA reports.

According to him, Čebren and Galište is the capital hydropower project for which a private investor has been sought for decades, but market conditions in Europe and the world are now such that the project is seen as a possible domestic state investment. The project’s holder would be JSC ESM, the government-owned company, which, according to Mickoski, must respect the Public Procurement Law and issue a call to find the financial structure that will finance the project and secure the resources.

The prime minister added that he would expect the U.S. DFC to respond to that call along with other lenders. “For me this was very significant and something that was truly profound,” he said of the meetings in the U.S.

The DFC is already present in North Macedonia through development project financing of the antimony project — for the “Krstov Dol” antimony mine near Kriva Palanka it allocated a five-million-dollar grant, so, according to Mickoski, it already has some working experience in the country.