The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said that it is considering extending a loan of up to 100 million euros to North Macedonian state-owned power utility ESM in order to support its liquidity during the crisis.
The statement from the banks said that these funds would address ESM’s emergency liquidity gap by providing financial support and policy dialogue to the energy sector to address structural issues in the local energy market.
The liquidity support will also endorse ESM’s decarbonization strategy following the successful commissioning of its 10 MW first solar plant Oslomej and the upcoming signing of an additional 30 MW in solar power plants located in Oslomej and Bitola.
Last month, the management of ESM announced the package of austerity measures, which includes lower salaries, reducing public procurements by 96 million euros and investments by 117 million euros in 2022.
In February alone, the Government allocated 58 million euros in support for ESM and in the first two months of 2022, state aid amounted to 80 million euros. If the payments from 2021 are counted too, the total amount rises to over 160 million euros of state aid for the power utility.
