Meta contacted experts in the energy field, regarding the blocking of the accounts of the largest gas and oil supplier in Macedonia, Makpetrol. The expert were unanimous- the move by the Government may cause a bigger crisis in the supply of gas rather than oil.
According to Atanasko Tuneski, professor at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and former director of MEPSO, if there is a crisis with the supply of oil derivatives, it will be abated by smaller suppliers who will increase imports. Tuneski doesn’t expect this crisis to last long.
-I don’t expect a huge problem with oil and its derivatives. Smaller suppliers will import more. Perhaps there could be a small crisis. Small-scale consumers don’t care on which pump they will get their oil- says Tuneski.
Because Makpetrol’s accounts were blocked, Okta stopped sending it oil.
The condition with the supply of gas, according to Tuneski, is an even bigger problem because this the lack of this fuel will have a bad impact on lots of companies and institutions.
-The situation with the delivery of gas is the big problem, because institutions and companies will be left without it. The blocked accounts will render Makpetrol unable to pay off Gazprom and that would put in jeopardy the overall supply- adds the expert.
Tuneski doesn’t see why the government would block the accounts of Makpetrol when the company in question here is Oilko.
Konstantin Dimitrov, professor at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, says he doesn’t have all the right information of the Makpetrol case, but, according to his personal opinion, “the situation with oils will be solved by smaller importers and gas will be supplied also by individual companies who can invest money in this resources right away.”
A number of large companies use natural gas. The clinical center, the Ministry of Defence, the City hospital September 8 in Skopje, four schools, the distributor Kumanovo gas and all other companies in the industrial zone Buardzik.
