The Government of North Macedonia, during its last meeting, took the decision to pay a fee for the provided oil product transportation service through the VARDAX oil product pipeline.
With this decision of the Government of North Macedonia, all pending issues are essentially resolved and the way is now opened for the reopening of the Thessaloniki-Skopje oil pipeline, after 12 years of inactivity. The decision, by the Government of North Macedonia, to pay the fee was the last issue that was pending. The decision was published today in the “Government Gazette” of North Macedonia.
The pipeline, after its radical upgrade, can transport 2.5 million tons of crude oil and oil products (diesel, kerosene and gasoline) annually. It is estimated that it will be used mainly for the transport of diesel.
The pipeline was built in 2002, owned by the company VARDAX – in which HELLENiQ ENERGY holds 80% and the State of North Macedonia 20% – to connect the refineries of Thessaloniki with the then refinery of the company OKTA (a subsidiary of HELLENiQ ENERGY), in Skopje.
In 2013, as happened with several other relatively “simple” refineries in the region, which had been built with other criteria during the Cold War, it was deemed commercially unprofitable to continue operating OKTA as a refinery. Instead, after careful study, it was decided to utilize OKTA’s facilities as a regional supply hub in the Western Balkans, with a change in the use of the pipeline, so that instead of crude, it would transport the most modern and clean products.
Although the pipeline and OKTA facilities were modified for the new operation and significant investments were made to modernize them, the pipeline remained inactive, because the issuance of a relevant change to its licensing by the government of North Macedonia was delayed.
The pipeline has a total length of approximately 213 kilometers, of which 70 km. are within Greek territory.
It is estimated that the reopening of the pipeline will also contribute greatly to the energy shielding of the Balkans, making North Macedonia an energy hub with HELLENiQ ENERGY expanding its economic footprint in the country.
Greece-North Macedonia natural gas interconnector pipeline in the works
In addition to the Thessaloniki-Skopje oil pipeline, the operation of the Greece-North Macedonia natural gas interconnector pipeline is also in the works, the construction of which began a few months ago. This pipeline will have a total length of 123 kilometers and will interconnect the gas transmission systems of the two countries. The Greek section of the pipeline, 56 km long, will start from the Nea Mesimvria area in Thessaloniki and will end in the Evzone – Gevgelija area. From there, the 67 km long part of the project within the territory of North Macedonia will begin, which will end in the Negotino area. The initial capacity of the pipeline will be 1.5 billion cubic meters per year, with the possibility of expansion to 3 billion cubic meters per year, while studies have been carried out so that the pipeline adopts the appropriate specifications for the transport of green hydrogen. The construction of the Greece-North Macedonia natural gas interconnector is expected to be completed in the first half of 2027.