Saga with 10 km of the "Skopje-Blacë" highway, Deputy Minister Zekolli: We are waiting for a signal from the EBRD to start the works

The company that was selected from the tender to carry out the works is local and according to the approved project, the second segment of the Skopje-Blace road will also have the status of a motorway and not a main road, as rumors have circulated in the public opinion that there may be a change so that the project costs less, say the leaders of the Ministry of Transport and Communications.

Both Minister Aleksandër Nikollovski and Deputy Minister Kaltrina Zekolli told TV21 that work on the second segment will begin on the ground no later than January 2026. This deadline was also missed and the next deadline is unknown.

"We tried to eliminate these design complications and reached the tendering closing phase. The tendering part has been closed, fortunately it is within the foreseen budget because it was worrying that this part would exceed it and it is really the most expensive project in Europe, but it was closed. The evaluation is complete! You know that we have a grant and a loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the last word belongs to them. We as the Minister have completed our work together with the NP 'State Roads', the documentation is in the offices of this bank and we expect a positive signal from them to start the works very soon", said Kaltrina Zekolli.

The Albanian opposition accuses the Albanian population of neglecting infrastructure projects in Albanian settlements. DUI accuses VALEN of not taking action.

"Today we are in a situation where a project is being canceled, while another project, the BLLACË-SKOPJE project, is being reduced from a highway to an expressway, while VALEN is silent and acting as if nothing is happening with these decisions. They either remain silent, or justify harmful decisions, or act as spectators in the government of which they themselves are a part. This is not politics. This is political submission. This silence is not neutral. This silence is approval and agreement with decisions that harm the strategic interests of citizens is political betrayal of their voters", declared Faton Pollozhani

The construction of the 12,5-kilometer Skopje-Blace highway has been promised for the last 15 years by both VMRO-DPMNE, SDSM and DUI, while the idea itself is over two decades old. It has not been fully built by any government. The first two-kilometer segment has been completed, but it leads nowhere, although it has cost no less than 57 million euros. Meanwhile, on the Kosovo side, the “Arben Xhaferi” highway was built seven years ago, with a length of 65 kilometers – from the border with North Macedonia to Pristina. The construction of this highway took our neighbor only five years. /Periscopes