From today, the expressway section Farish - Drenovo is opened to traffic, as part of the expressway Gradsko – Farish.
The investment is worth 44.7 million euros and, as emphasized by Deputy Prime Minister Nikoloski, this was the second most difficult section to work on after the Kichevo-Ohrid highway.
From today, residents of the entire Pelagonia region, the Tikvesh region, and all other citizens will be able to drive on a safer, higher quality, and faster road route.
Below is the full speech of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport, Aleksandar Nikoloski:
“It is truly a great pleasure that this summer, citizens from the Tikvesh region — from Prilep, Bitola, Resen, Mogila, Novaci, Krivogashtani, and those who want to travel more easily to Ohrid and spend part of their vacation there — will be able to use this expressway. Congratulations to everyone involved in the realization of perhaps the second most difficult section of all those we are currently working on. Seen as a feat after the Ohrid-Kichevo highway, this is definitely the most complex challenge that had to be resolved. The tunnels behind us and the mountain behind them were a huge challenge. Literally, a mountain was moved to build this expressway and make it safe, which is very important. We decided to postpone the opening for several months to ensure a maximally safe expressway that citizens can drive on, and also to remove all obstacles that stood in the way of completing this road.
Imagine, the previous government did not even consider that if an entire rock was on the road, it could potentially collapse under certain weather conditions and block the road. Therefore, at the end of last year, together with the Prime Minister, we made a decision to resolve that problem. Today it is resolved, and behind these tunnels, you can see that the mountain no longer exists. This will be the easiest and safest way of communication, meaning travel from Skopje to Prilep will take about 1 hour and 15 minutes, or 1 hour and 20 minutes, and from Skopje to Bitola it will take about 1 hour and 40 minutes. Of course, after the completion of the Prilep - Bitola highway, which is being worked on intensively, the travel time will be much shorter.
I would like to personally thank the Prime Minister for his dedication; we would not be here today if he had not been personally involved in the realization of this project. I would also like to thank the director of JPDP and everyone involved.
And if you allow me, usually at ceremonial moments we don’t talk politics, but it’s fair to say a few words. During last year’s election campaign, together with the then candidates for parliament — who are now MPs — we filmed a spot where we promised that within one year the expressway from Gradsko through Drenovo to Farish would be completed. A few days after us, the SDSM party released a spot with their candidate Venko Filipche and the then Minister of Transport, Blagoj Bochvarski. There were two realities: we came out on a road that didn’t exist, they came out on a completed road. We realized that this was the first use of artificial intelligence in Macedonia in a bad way — they used AI to make it seem like the road was finished. Later, the candidates came here and invited journalists, and behind them were piles of rocks and stones. So, after a year we have reality, not artificial intelligence, and that is why we are where we are and our opponents are where they are. We will continue building Macedonia even more intensively. Mr. President, thank you for your support.
Good luck and safe travels!” — Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Nikoloski
The Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski and the director of the Public Enterprise for State Roads Koce Trajanovski also spoke, highlighting the enormous economic and regional significance of this road route.
Previously, the expressway section from Gradsko to Drenovo was opened to traffic.
