A government delegation, led by Premier Nikola Gruevski, held talks Tuesday in Doha with a Qatari state-owned oil and gas company, Qatar Petroleum, which was led by chairman Abdullah bin Hamad Al-Attiyah.

Talks focused on the joint initiative enabling the company to invest in trading with oil and oil derivatives, government's press service said. The delegations discussed a project for opening of 20 gas stations across Macedonia. The Qatari company expressed great interest in realising the project and its representatives will visit Macedonia to complete the process together with members of the Macedonian government.

The possibility of exploring oil and gas resources in Macedonia was also discussed including the participation in construction of a secondary and tertiary gasification system through various investment modalities and partnership or recapitalisation of gas or electric power facilities.

The government delegation also held a meeting with officials of Qatar Airways company to review options on launching a direct flight connecting Doha and Skopje or the possibility making Skopje a transit spot toward the final destination of flights by Qatar Airways.

By wrapping up these meetings, the government delegation completes its political and economic visit to Qatar. Its authorities and companies have expressed serious interest in investing in energy and mining, real estates, agriculture and tourism and in participating in projects offered for construction of energy systems and facilities, exploration of oil, gas and metal resources, development of tourist zones and centers, export of Macedonian agricultural products in Qatar and construction of housing and non-residential facilities.

The visit was seen as positive and processes will be accelerated after a visit by a Qatari special delegation to Macedonia in a bid to make further analyses.