Mickoski: Six Highway Sections Under Construction at Once, Blace-Skopje Begins Late This Month
The Prime Minister announced construction on the long-promised Blace-Skopje highway section will finally begin around August 26, while five more sections are under construction nationwide and work is underway at over 1,200 locations.
After years of announcements, reveals and delays, the Blace-Skopje highway section has finally gotten a start date. Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski announced construction should begin toward the end of this month, most likely August 26 — after, he said, all formal procedures have been completed, with a domestic company as contractor.
"Finally, for this decade-old project that's been announced so many times, we have a contractor... every condition has been met for construction to begin," Mickoski said while inspecting sewage construction work in Idrizovo, Gazi Baba.
Not Just One Road
Blace-Skopje is just one item on a longer list. In September, the PM said, construction should also begin on the Bukojčani-Kičevo section, while the Kičevo-Ohrid section continues at an accelerated pace — the Izvor-Vrbjani stretch is expected to open in the second half of October, with the full section wrapping up in the first quarter of 2027. In parallel, construction continues on three sections of Corridor 8 and Corridor 10d: Prilep-Bitola, Tetovo-Gostivar, and Gostivar-Bukojčani.
In total, that's six highway sections under construction at once — and to that, Mickoski added, should be counted the second railway section (part of Corridor 8's eastern wing), plus a tender for a third section expected soon.
Why the Number 1,200 Matters
The Prime Minister noted that construction is currently underway at more than 1,200 locations across Macedonia — a figure he's using as evidence that domestic construction firms are engaged at scale, which he says signals a stronger economy. "We're able to show and prove that decades-old problems could actually be solved," he added.
Whether every deadline holds remains an open question — Macedonia's infrastructure projects have historically had a habit of slipping. But for the first time in a while, Blace-Skopje at least has an actual date attached to it, not just another promise.
MKNews Hub · Economy · August 16, 2026