Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and the President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Suma Chakrabarti met in Vienna to discuss the current road and railroad projects EBRD is supporting in Macedonia, as well as their possible support for the Macedonian gasification project.

- The meeting was a good opportunity for me to express my gratitude for the recently approved financing of five major projects in Macedonia, worth 305 million EUR in all. Part of the funds go to into railroad investment, to finalize the second stage of the road connecting Macedonia to Bulgaria. The remainder of the funds is divided for the construction, reconstruction or expansion of four major roads. The two roads that will be reconstructed are between Stip - Kocani and Prilep - Gradsko and work is set to begin by mid 2015, while the two brand new roads will connect Struga with Trebeniste and Ohrid with Pestani. Work on this road should start by the end of 2015 or the beginning of 2016, Gruevski said after his meeting with President Chakrabarti.

The Prime Minister added that Macedonia is in long discussions with EBRD about the planned gasification network, and in two months it will be known whether this project will be done with the support of EBRD.

- We expect to see if we can agree on all the details in the next two months. We are in contact with other potential supporters of these projects, so in two months we will know if this will go ahead with the help of EBRD or some other institutions that are willing to finance the gasification of Macedonia, Gruevski said. The plan would construct supply gas lines to major Macedonian cities, which would then develop their distribution network to consumers.

During the meeting President Chakrabarti said that he is happy with the cooperation with Macedonia so far, and that the EBRD remains ready to support projects of interest for the Republic of Macedonia.

- Working with Macedonia is one of the most positive partnerships we have in the EBRD. This is a record year considering the level of EBRD investment in Macedonia of 240 million EUR, which includes investment in two major projects - roads and a railroad from the Corridor 8 which I'm personally proud of because it's a project of great significance for regional cooperation in which Macedonian is showing its leadership. In the future we have some great projects planned, not only in infrastructure, but in energy supply, namely in the field of gasification, Chakrabarti said after the meeting with Prime Minister Gruevski.

Corridor 8 is the main West - East link that connects Macedonia with Albania and Bulgaria, and remains incomplete without a full railroad link to both these countries, and with inferior road connections compared to the North - South Corridor 10 that connects Macedonia with Serbia and Greece.