Six data centre companies, gas plants that do not exist, and a water guarantee given in one word

Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski announced from Washington that the government is in talks with six companies about data centres in Macedonia. Besides Chris Pavlovski's "Rumble", another five. With the US Development Finance Corporation, DFC, there were talks about possible financing for Čebren and Galište, as well as other energy, infrastructure and technology investments.

"The United States and the current administration of President Trump absolutely see Macedonia and this government as a close friend, not only in the region but in Europe," Mickoski says. In his view, Macedonia is a top US priority in the region, and the strategic partnership will produce capital projects of historic importance in the years ahead.

Gas, power, data centres, artificial intelligence

The plan is for Macedonia to become, through new gas infrastructure, a transit link between the LNG terminal in Alexandroupolis and Central Europe. Mickoski expects the country to gain substantially more capacity once the southern and northern interconnectors are completed by the end of 2028.

"We will have 12 times the capacity for investment, for gas plants that would produce electricity, which would then be used in data centres, and from those we would draw opportunities for artificial intelligence," the prime minister explains.

That is the chain as laid out: pipeline, gas plants, data centres, artificial intelligence. He also counts Corridors 8 and 10-d, rail links and high-voltage transmission lines as part of it.

The water question and the one-word answer

Asked directly whether the government can guarantee that low water-consumption technologies will be used, Mickoski answered in the affirmative - "Absolutely". He said the centres should use modern cooling systems, air-based and refrigerant-based.

This is where the answer is shorter than the question. A guarantee that six investors who have not yet signed anything will build with closed-loop cooling is not something a prime minister can hand out at a press conference - it goes into a contract, a permit, a grid connection condition. When such conditions are published, the guarantee will carry weight. Until then it is a statement.

The same goes for the electricity. Data centres consume a great deal, and the gas plants meant to power them do not yet exist. The chain only works if each link arrives before the next one - and the order of announcements is running the other way.

Bulgaria: nothing rushed

In the same interview Mickoski also talks about relations with Bulgaria. He says the issue inevitably comes up in talks with European partners, but that the government has no intention of hastily pulling out of international agreements.

He also says talks on the action plan for minorities should be held with a representative of the international community present, pointing to the European Union as a possible third party. That is a new element - asking for a bilateral topic to have a witness from Brussels.