Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, who is visiting the region of Reka and Debar on Thursday alongside Minister of Transport and Communications Vlado Misajlovski, marked the start of the reconstruction of a 11-km regional road connecting Novo Selo and Mavrovo. The investment is worth EUR 2.5 million.

Construction works are expected to wrap up in a year. Reconstruction and rehabilitation of another nearby road is also planned, for which EUR 8 million will be invested.

This road, PM Gruevski said, is used the most when people travel to Mavrovo or in other settlements in the area. “One of the most common demands of the local inhabitants was to reconstruct the road”, he added noting that the government was yet again fulfilling one of its promises.

“This is yet another project in the western part of Macedonia. Having in mind that recently the Struga-Debar road has been constructed and that the Kicevo-Ohrid highway is being built, we are now working on all key regional roads in western Macedonia,” PM Gruevski stated pointing out that over 70 local roads had been built and reconstructed in the past several years in the municipalities in western Macedonia. “This is our commitment to improving living standards and supporting the local economy and tourism in the region.”

Transport Minister Misajlovski said that regional development was ‘one of the priorities of the government’. “Investments in road infrastructure not only allow the citizens to communicate better, but they are also an integral part in the development of the economy,” he stressed.

Under projects that are part of the government’s program, a road network of 100 kilometers in this region has been or will be reconstructed, which is an investment of more than EUR 50 million, the Minister mentioned.

Later in the day, PM Gruevski is expected to meet with citizens of several settlements, oversee construction works at a local road and visit the plant Euroedil Holding.