"Based on the analysis of how the exchanges moved last week, I expect diesel and petrol to get cheaper next week," Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said while inspecting the construction site of the bridge on "Ljubljanska" street. The final decision rests with the Energy Regulatory Commission, and the government, he says, is negotiating in parallel with "Okta" for an additional discount. The goal: "convincingly the country with the lowest fuel price in the region, and maybe in Europe".

The low price comes at a price. The government cut part of the excise duty, and VAT on diesel has been lowered from 18 to 10 percent. The head of the Energy Regulatory Commission, Aco Ristov, calculates that without those measures diesel would cost 125 to 126 denars today. The budget feels the difference: "On excise duty alone, the estimates are that around five billion denars will be missing. If you add the value-added tax rate, especially for diesel, which has been reduced, we come to a figure of 7-8 billion denars," Mickoski said. That, he says, cannot be covered by reallocation, so a formal budget revision will follow in October.

At the same time, the government decided to borrow a fresh 1.3 billion euros on international financial markets, arguing that the money is needed to repay debt and to finance the budget deficit. The opposition keeps repeating that such policies are pushing the country into debt.

The prime minister also tried to calm fears about the winter. The thermal units at REK "Bitola" and "Oslomej" are finishing their overhauls, hydro potential is at around 40 percent, which he described as satisfactory, and stocks and contracts with suppliers are secured at least until New Year. As the biggest winter challenge he pointed to pollution, when people start burning wood, oil, waste, "sometimes even tyres" again.

Cheaper fuel is good news at the pump. But when the same government, in the same month, revises the budget because of lost excise revenue and borrows 1.3 billion euros, it is worth asking how long the budget can hold "the lowest price in the region" - and who will pay the difference when the measures end?