A museum replica of the Golden Mask discovered in Trebenista was handed over Saturday in Skopje to Culture Minister Elizabeta Kanceska-Milevska by her Serbian counterpart Predrag Markovic. The Golden Mask of Trebenista is housed in the Belgrade National Museum.

"Serbia's culture minister gave me a replica of an immensely important artifact - the Golden mask of Trebenista that is housed in the National Museum in Belgrade. The museum replica of this invaluable artifact, which was unearthed in the 1930s in Macedonia, will be displayed in the new archaeological museum, which is planned to be opened in late 2012 or early 2013," Kanceska-Milevska said.

She explained that the Ministry of Culture had submitted a request to the Serbian Culture Ministry asking museum replicas of artifacts housed in the National Museum in Belgrade to be made.

The move, the minister added, is a gesture of great friendship between the people of Macedonia and Serbia.

"The golden masks are considered to be the most important artefacts unearthed in the ancient necropolis in the vicinity of Trebenista village near Ohrid. Two of the four finds are housed in the National Museum in Belgrade and the other two in the Sofia Archaeological Museum," Kanceska-Milevska stated.

Serbian minister Markovic said that the museum replica was a gift to the Macedonian people and Macedonian state.

Less than a month ago, the ministers of Macedonia and Serbia signed a culture cooperation programme for 2012-2014.