Page 79 - Ekonomija i Biznis_noemvri 2015.indd
P. 79

EXTRA

and Development available through NLB            obtain funds for investments.
Tutunska Bank and Ohridska Bank, the
Green Development Fund available through               What is your view about the fact that this
Halk Bank etc.                                   is one of the rare foreign donations where
                                                 funds are invested in the private business
      Do you provide professional services to    sector?
the companies for development of projects
in the production plants that will enable           D. Blazev: Considering that the assistance
reduction of the costs for energy and            and support in the private sector are very
production of more competitive products?         limited, and this sector is exceptionally
                                                 important for the development of the
   D. Blazev: As a next step, to industrial      economy in our country, every support,
companies that have introduced energy            including the one provided by USAID, is
consumption monitoring and management            welcome.
systems, we provide professional support
for preparation of energy audits, analyses,            What is your message to the businessmen
studies and project documentation for the        in Macedonia in regard to the energy
realization of projects for an increase of       management issue?
energy efficiency in their production plants.
The projects refer to change of fuel, selection     D. Blazev: I recommend to businessmen
of equipment and design of installations,        to work systematically and in the long run,
use of waste heat, rational utilization of       to reduce energy costs as part of the total
thermal energy, management of peak load,         production costs, which ultimately means
thermal insulation of facilities, introduction   more competitive products in the market.
of variable speed drives in electromotive        In this manner they will manage to increase
plants, replacement of plants for energy         their profits, to improve their image, to
transformation, compensation of reactive         motivate their employees and to indirectly
energy, replacement and management of            improve the energy security, stability and
lighting etc. In addition, we also provide       economy in our country.
professional support for presentation of the
energy efficiency projects before the financial                                                   Zoran Jovanovski
institutions in order to help companies

   With energy prices on the rise and trade and business activity challenged by    James Stein, Director
broader economic trends, companies need to reduce costs now if they want to        of the USAID Mission
remain competitive in the future. One effective way to reduce costs without        in Macedonia
compromising production is to reduce unnecessary energy consumption. Our
Industrial Management Project is helping companies better understand, and
therefore reduce, their energy use and its associated costs. To date, we’ve
installed Energy Management Systems (EMS) in 17 companies.Each of them has
demonstrated that with only a few small scale, low cost adjustments, they’re able
to save up to 10% on their energy costs. This, of course, is great news for the
environment, but it’s also great news for their profit margins. These two are
not mutually exclusive goals. We hope that in spreading the news about these
results, we will inspire broad use of energy management systems throughout the
industrial sector and we encourage the Government of Macedonia to facilitate
investments in them. Doing so will help it achieve three of its strategic goals:
improved energy efficiency, greater private sector development, and reduction of
greenhouse gas emissions.

                                                 November 2015                                                      79
   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84