Macedonia’s Road, Power Plans Worry Naturalists

The construction of a 32-kilometer highway stretch, costed at €271 million, and the building of the Boskov Most hydro-power plant, costed at €65 million, will start this year as planned, the government has said.

The government on Tuesday said also that all necessary environmental studies for these project are complete.
 
According to the authorities in Skopje, “the environmental impact will be insignificant and the projects incorporate measures for preserving local nature”.

European ecological groups are not convinced.

A recent report carried out by two environmental advocacy groups, Friends of the Earth and Balkanwatch, poses serious questions about the construction of the Demir Kapija–Smokvica stretch of highway.

The new road “will be constructed in a pristine forested area and built near the protected Demir Kapija gorge, which is rich in many endemic and rare animal and plant species,” the report says.

The group argues that the highway will “damage many habitats and ecological corridors, including brown bear migration corridors”.

The total cost of the construction of the road is €271 million. The government plans to start work in the second half of this year.

Another environmental watchdog, The European Nature Heritage Fund – EuroNatur, meanwhile, has urged the government to stop the planned construction of the Boskov Most hydro-power plant in western Macedonia. Its construction is set to start in April.

“Beside the fact that the dam will be built in the middle of a nature reserve [Mavrovo], there are no reliable studies about the impact of the project on the last known stable population of the Balkan Lynx, an endangered species,” EuroNatur director Gabriel Schwaderer said in a press statement.

Macedonia has described the two projects as the largest infrastructure investments that will be launched this year.

In November, Macedonia signed a €65 million loan agreement with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to finance the Boskov Most dam.

For the highway section the country plans to use a €45 million EU grant and additional loans from the European Investment Bank, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, EBRD.