This week ESM will officially take over the management of BEG until the end of the crisis with heat supply, in accordance with the Decree on the criteria and conditions for declaring a state of crisis in cases of weather and natural disasters, accidents and disorders of the heat market, the manner of heat supply in a state of crisis, adopted by the Government.

In the meantime, AD ESM signed an agreement with the Company for production of electricity and heat TE-TO AD Skopje. Under that agreement, TPP will increase the volume of electricity and heat production, that is, it will work with maximum capacity, seven days a week instead of five days as before, in the period from 5 am to 1 am with full power, ie it will meet the maximum installed capacity of 227 megawatts. Electricity will be taken over by AD ESM, while the increased amount of thermal energy resulting from the process will be delivered to BEG and Skopje North.

Thus, according to the agreement, in the homes of Skopje residents instead of until 22 pm, there will be central heating until 1 am. 

The Government promised that all this will not affect the bills of the citizens, who despite the high price of natural gas on the market, from this month will pay 14,05 percent higher prices, and the difference to the real price will be covered by the state. The Minister of Economy Kreshnik Bekteshi pointed out that the Government will provide financial means that will subsidize the heat bills of all citizens who use this service.

The President of the Energy Regulatory Commission, Marko Bislimoski explains that the decision from Friday was the only way to enable uninterrupted delivery of heat to the citizens because BEG was left without financial resources and liquidity to procure natural gas. He says that in the next period the Regulatory Commission will make an analysis and collect concrete data on how natural gas is procured and how prices move.

In the past, the citizens had many problems with central heating. Those whose homes are connected to the system of Toplifikacija Skopje North were left without heating for days, while the radiators in about 54.000 homes that are heated through the BEG system were lukewarm instead of warm for most of the day. That is why the citizens submitted numerous complaints to the ERC, but also in BEG and on social networks. They expect that they should have regular and quality heating in winter, especially since they pay their bills regularly throughout the year, and during the summer, last year they also paid significantly higher settlement bills.

- In terms of undelivered thermal energy, ie delivered with inadequate quality, not a single kilowatt-hour of this undelivered thermal energy will be invoiced to consumers when a settlement is made in May. We as the Regulatory Commission received many complaints from dissatisfied users of central heating and many were overcome. The situation is far better now, but it can not be expected that the temperature will be 24-25 degrees as it was in the past - said Bislimoski in the "Morning briefing".

However, the citizens are worried whether the additional heating of three hours per day will be invoiced in June on the settlement bills or this obligation will be taken over by the Government.

The return of the BEG work permit will be decided by the Regulatory Commission later after reviewing the situation.