An event titled “Days of Vardar” took place in Skopje on Monday, at which a plan for protection and preservation of the Vardar River was presented. This plan is prepared as part of the Swiss Program for Management, Use and Protection of Waters, and in partnership with the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning and the Ministry of Agriculture.
Deputy Minister of Environment Ane Lashkoska said that such a plan will be implemented for the first time in the country.
“For the first time, we are establishing a model in which politics, expertise, and institutions are aligned around a single goal – a stable and sustainable water management system. By 2027, when the first phase of the program ends, we will have laid the foundation for future structural results and a system that generates measurable changes”, Lashkoska said.
Swiss Ambassador Christoph Sommer said that this new program is extension of the 20-year-long Swiss support for improvement of the access to drinking water, building of capacities for waste water treatment and protection of the environment.
Head of Cooperation at the EU Delegation in Skopje Stefan Hudolin said that the EU financially support the project for a waste water treatment station in Skopje, which will protect the Vardar River from pollution, voicing hope that authorities will put the system in function soon.