North Macedonia is at the crossroads of South-Eastern Europe, which makes it an ideal transit and distribution center for products for European markets. The developed road and railway infrastructure, in combination with the small area of the country, enables access to every inhabited place in North Macedonia in less than 3 hours.
The Republic of North Macedonia has a modern digital telecommunications network. The Macedonian telecommunications sector is the most liberalized in the region. At the moment, fixed telephone services are offered by 17 companies, while mobile telephony is in constant development. The presence of four mobile operators guarantees the quality and availability of services.
The country’s excellent Internet access has made a very positive contribution to a positive business climate. North Macedonia pursues international trends in the development of its Internet communications and enables easy and fast Internet access made via numerous Internet providers.
The overall road network of the country totals 13,278 km of roads, with continuous investment in roads by the National Road Transport Strategy, prepared by the Ministry of Transport and Communications of the Republic of North Macedonia with assistance from the EU.
New projects and network maintenance are carried out according to the Public Investment Program’s annual updates.
The backbone of the country’s road network consists of the two Pan-European corridors VIII and X.
The Railway infrastructure in the Republic of North Macedonia has been put in place since 1873 when the first Railway Track from Skopje to Thessaloniki in Greece has been constructed. Today the railway’s network is about 900 km in single-track lines and normal gauge. Macedonian railway network system is connected north-south with the railway network systems of Serbia and Greece. The total length of the railway infrastructure in Corridor 8 (east-west) is about 306 km on the territory of the Republic of North Macedonia and 154 km (or 50%) are constructed and operational.
There are two international airports in Skopje and Ohrid. There are regular direct connections to several larger European transport centers. Turkish “TAV” is the new operator and manager of the Macedonian airport system since 2008, after receiving the right to a 20-year concession from the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia.
North Macedonia is a land-locked country. Access to the neighboring ports is enabled through the roads and railway links. The closest ports are in Thessalonica, at about 100 km from the Greek border crossing in Gevgelija, and in Durres, at about 150 km from the Albanian border crossing in Struga. Passenger transport exists on Lake Ohrid with smaller ships, from 25 to 150 seats.
The broadly spread network for distribution and supply of electricity makes North Macedonia a favorable destination for investing in every part of its territory. In 2006, the Austrian EVN undertook the supply the domestic market with electricity. Energy sector development is a priority in North Macedonia, especially taking into consideration the fact that 70% of the technically available hydro-potential is open for current and future investment.
Gas Pipeline
The gas pipeline system, with a capacity of 800 million m³ annually, is part of Corridor 8. The length of the main gas pipeline is around 98 km and it spreads from the border with Bulgaria to Skopje. The distribution network already in place is 26 km long and the city network is 31.5 km long.
The planned development of the gas pipeline network in the Republic of North Macedonia is centered on constructing new facilities for the production of electric and/or heating power, expanding direct supply to potential consumers, as well as upgrading the gas pipeline network in the region and beyond.
Oil pipeline Thessaloniki (Greece) – Skopje (North Macedonia)
The 212.6 km oil pipeline is used for the transport of raw oil from the Thessalonica port to the Skopje refinery. The oil pipeline was built in 2002 along Corridor 10 and its capacity is 360 m³/h, i.e. 2.5 million tons annually.