The public utility "Kumanovo Gas" is continuing this year to connect new users and expand its gas distribution network. The announcement that interests residents most is that the connection of the sports hall should be completed by the end of July - and that by the start of the new heating season, the Health Centre, two primary schools and the "Angel" kindergarten should also be hooked up to natural gas.

The director of "Kumanovo Gas", Marko Mitrovski, confirmed that the paperwork for the sports hall connection is nearly done, and that work will start immediately after approval, with completion within a month. It sounds concrete - a date, a building, a deadline. And that is exactly what is worth watching, because promises of city gas are made easily, while deadlines are broken more often than they are met.

Connecting public institutions to gas is not only a technical matter - it is also a question of cost and of air. Gas is cheaper and cleaner than fuel oil and electricity for heating large buildings, so every hall, school and kindergarten on the network means a lower bill and less pollution. For a city like Kumanovo, which breathes heavy air in winter, that is no small thing.

The question that stays open is the pace. Kumanovo's gas network has been expanding for years, but slowly - and every heating season new buildings wait their turn. Whether the deadlines will be respected this time, or the sports hall will go into winter still on the old system, is something we will see by the end of July. Until then, the announcement remains what it is: an announcement.