In 2022, the domestic production of electricity was increased by 27 percent, and for 2023, an additional increase of another 20 percent is announced. All facilities of AD ESM are in operation with the exception of Block 3 in REK Bitola, where the installation of the transformer is in the final stage, after which it will be connected to the network. Throughout 2022, we had an uninterrupted supply of electricity and heat energy.

For 2023, the universal supplier "EVN Home" requires 3.900 gigawatt hours of electricity, which will again be 100-percent provided by AD ESM.

According to the Law on Energy, "ESM" had an obligation in 2023 to supply 55 percent of the needs of the universal supplier "EVN Home", but the Government obliged it to cover all 100 percent with a price of 56 euros per megawatt hour. With that, as the government says, the state subsidizes 73 percent of the bill for consumed electricity paid by the citizens.

From December 2022, by order of the Government, "ESM" undertakes to supply electricity to companies from the food sector through "ESM Sales" at a subsidized price of 80 euros per megawatt hour, as well as primary and secondary schools and water supply companies at cost from 95 euros per megawatt hour.

From July 1 of this year, four block tariffs for electricity in the high (expensive) tariff were introduced for households. The purpose of their introduction was that those who consume less energy pay less, and those who spend a lot pay a higher price similar to the stock market.

According to the president of the Regulatory Commission for Energy and Water Services (RKE) Marko Bislimoski, the introduction of block tariffs has given results and there is a reduced consumption of electricity.

It was announced that from the beginning of 2023, block tariffs will be introduced for small consumers, but that, as Bislimoski said, has been postponed until June 30 due to additional analyses.

In the part of the regulated market for the needs of small consumers and households, from July 1 to December 31, there was no electricity import at all. According to Bislimoski's announcements, this will be the case in the first six months of 2023, that is, until June 30, there will be no need to import electricity for the regulated market.

From January 1, 2023, the VAT in household electricity bills will increase from 5 to 10 percent. That, according to Bislimoski, will cause a 4,72 percent increase in the final cost of the electricity bill.

The heating season in the country started on October 15, 2022. We were one of the few countries that did not move the start of the heating season, and we also did not change the conditions for the delivery of heat energy. By order of the Government, AD ESM once again took over the responsibility for heating the residents of Skopje. The company leased the East and West heating plants from "Adora" and made an agreement for business and technical cooperation with the Skopje Sever heating plant, for which it provided natural gas. For heating the people of Skopje, it also uses its own capacity "ESM Energetica" in Autokomanda.

Towards the end of 2022, "Makpetrol" announced through a press release that from January 1, 2023 it will stop supplying natural gas to all its customers, but as the president of RKE Bislimoski informed in the media, the problem was quickly overcome. "Makpetrol" supplies about 70 percent of the users in the country with gas, including "ESM" for the needs of heating in Skopje.

At the end of 2022, RKE adopted the new by-laws for the natural gas market.

- "Makpetrol" wanted to prolong the whole process, but that process cannot be postponed because "GA-MA" has already signed an agreement with "Bulgartransgas", the transmission system operator for natural gas in Bulgaria and the natural gas market in the country it will function in the same way as it functions in the whole of Europe, said Bislimoski.

The agreement between "GA-MA" and "Bulgartrngas" has increased the flow of the gas interconnector between the two countries by 500.000 standard cubic meters, which until now had a capacity of 800.000 standard cubic meters, which until 2030 has been fully leased by the Russian "Gazprom".

With the new agreement, according to Bajram Redzepi, the director of National Energy Resources (NER), diversification of the gas supply will be enabled and other gas will be able to enter the country instead of only Russian gas as before. It is precisely because of the difference in the calorific value of other types of gas with Russian that the new by-laws have been introduced and gas will now be measured in kilowatts instead of normal cubic meters.

Before the announcement of the new rules, AD ESM announced a public call for the supply of natural gas for the needs of the heating plants in Skopje for the period from January 1 to April 30, 2023. "ESM Prodazba" then signed a contract for the supply of natural gas for the production of heat energy for the East, West, Energetika and Skopje Sever heating plants, as well as for other natural gas consumers, primarily larger production and service facilities. The contract was signed with the company "Balkan Utilities" from Bulgaria, for the delivery of natural gas for the month of January at a price of 115,97 euros per megawatt hour. The same firm has also offered to supply until May 1, 2023, by making monthly price offers before the start of each month. The previous gas supplier of AD ESM, "Makpetrol Prom-Gas", offered a price of 116,20 euros per megawatt hour, which was not fixed, that is, it is subject to corrections for January. The third bidder "APMP Handels Ges" did not give a complete offer

The president of RKE, on the other hand, informs that the largest consumer of natural gas in the country, the private cogeneration power plant "TE-TO", has already procured the necessary quantities of gas for work in 2023. "TE-TO" supplies 70 percent of the heat energy needs in the central heating system in Skopje.