North Macedonia, UK to Sign Historic £5 Billion Deal

A government-to-government agreement between North Macedonia and the United Kingdom, under which the country is receiving the largest amount of funding in its history for the implementation of capital projects, is set to be signed in London on Thursday, CE Report quotes MIA.

The document will be signed by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport Aleksandar Nikoloski and Gareth Thomas, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Services, Small Businesses and Exports) at the British Department for Business and Trade, MIA reports from London.

Deputy PM Nikoloski, who is heading a government delegation including Deputy PM and Minister of Environment and Physical Planning Izet Mexhiti, Minister of Education Vesna Janevska, and the Director of the Public Enterprise for Railway Infrastructure Sinisha Ivanovski, officially kicked off his working visit to the United Kingdom on Wednesday with a meeting in London with the representatives from the UK Export Finance (UKEF).

“It is about £5 billion that are now being made available to Macedonia, something UKEF confirmed. I am happy to say that after this meeting, those £5 billion or €6 billion are definitely available to Macedonia. These funds can be used for project-based financing, meaning they are tied to specific projects that will bring added value to Macedonia,” Nikoloski said after the meeting.

He noted that the projects cover sectors such as transport, healthcare, education, energy, technology, and the environment.

"We discussed three groups of projects. The first is the high-speed railway along Corridor 10, from Tabanovce to Gevgelija. The second includes the construction of hospitals in Kichevo, Tetovo, and Shtip. The third involves building a medical faculty and a student dormitory in Shtip," said Nikoloski.

He added that following the signing of the government-to-government agreement on Thursday and its ratification in the Macedonian Parliament, official talks will begin regarding the financing and implementation of these projects, and further details will be shared very soon.

He explained the ratification process in both countries.

"In the country, the agreement will be ratified in Parliament, while in the UK it will be approved by the Government. Once the agreement is effective, we will start official discussions and negotiations on project implementation. I said my ambition is to have the agreements by summer and to start fieldwork by late autumn,” said Deputy PM Nikoloski.

Several meetings were held as part of Wednesday's agenda of the visit, and Nikoloski also met with Ryanair’s CEO, discussing the introduction of new flights to Skopje.

On Tuesday, the Macedonian government approved the text of the agreement that will be signed on Thursday, after Macedonian Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski and his British counterpart Keir Starmer reached an agreement on strategic partnership at a bilateral meeting held last week at the sidelines of the European Political Community Summit in Tirana. They both said the agreement would result in stronger cooperation and closer relations.