He explained that the initial project had not envisaged interchanges, roads or access lanes for the surrounding settlements. For this reason, a project has been drafted to build parallel roads, while approval from the UNESCO commission has also been obtained for the works.

The project includes the construction of parallel roads and access lanes with a total length of 18 kilometres. This infrastructure is expected to give villages on both sides of the motorway access to it, preventing them from being cut off from Struga, Ohrid and Kičevo.

“We were at the entrance to the village of Mesheisht, and when the project for the Kičevo–Ohrid motorway was designed, neither roads nor access lanes nor interchanges, or anything similar, had been envisaged. As a result, most of the villages on the right and left sides of the motorway were to be cut off from Ohrid, Struga, Kičevo and Skopje. We corrected this and designed parallel roads stretching 18 kilometres along the lower section of the motorway. We also had to seek approval from the UNESCO commission, and over the past six months we worked with them and received their approval. You can now see that work is under way on access to Mesheisht, and where the work ends, the municipality will continue it. This means connectivity not only for Struga, but also for the villages that fall under the Municipality of Struga,” said Transport Minister Aleksandar Nikollovski.

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Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport Aleksandar Nikolloski said that four projects are being carried out simultaneously at the airport and that each of them is progressing satisfactorily.

“We have four projects there being carried out in parallel. Progress is somewhere between 80 and 90 percent on each of them. The deadline we have set for completion is the end of summer, and I believe it will be met. At the same time, from August 15, the competent institutions will begin work, primarily the Civil Aviation Agency, Air Traffic Control, M-NAV, the National Security Agency, Customs and the Ministry of Interior, so that the airport can become operational and all security standards can be met,” Nikolloski said today.

He noted that, in practice, the reconstruction will result in a new airport, with a new administrative building and a new terminal. According to him, this will create significantly more space for aircraft landings and take-offs.

“I am pleased that Ohrid Airport is growing both in absolute numbers and in percentage terms, according to the latest reports, and we will continue working on this in the period ahead,” Deputy Prime Minister Nikolloski said.

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According to him, once this procedure is completed, work will continue on drafting contracts for the financing and implementation of the project, while the financing terms will be presented to Parliament.

Nikolloski said that the start of construction remains planned for the end of this year.

“Preparations for the construction of Corridor 10 are progressing excellently. The environmental study and the social impact study have been completed. At the beginning of August, public presentations will be organised, at least four, in Skopje, Veles, Demir Kapija and Gevgelija, where local residents will be able to familiarise themselves with the contents of the documents. This is a high-quality document of around 1,600 pages covering all aspects. Following the presentations, the document will undergo review and incorporate comments from the local community. Under the agreement we have, this phase should be completed by 31 August, after which we will move into finalising and preparing contracts for financing and implementing the project. Everything is progressing according to plan,” Nikolloski said.

He stressed that domestic financing legislation requires the terms to be presented publicly in Parliament. For this reason, according to Nikolloski, they cannot be made public until that point.

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Asked about the progress of talks with the European Union regarding the status of transport operators, Nikolloski said North Macedonia is not and will not become part of any regional grouping on the matter.

“First of all, we are not part of any group of countries in the region, nor will we be. We are handling this issue independently because it has been misused by some other countries, partly for show, partly for political points there, and everything these countries have said has not been implemented so far. This can only lead to confusion and cause serious damage to the domestic economy,” the relevant minister stated.

He stressed that the decision to hold direct talks with each country had been maintained throughout the negotiating process. According to him, agreements have already been reached with several EU countries, while negotiations with several others are nearing completion.

Nikolloski announced that agreements have been secured with Croatia, Switzerland and Romania. Meanwhile, the solutions being discussed with Slovenia, Austria and Germany are in their final phase.

According to him, the agreements reached are expected to provide a solution to the entire problem faced by professional truck drivers from North Macedonia.

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