May 13 (SeeNews) - Macedonia's railway operator said on Friday it has so far sustained losses exceeding 1.5 million euro ($1.7 million) due to the blockade of the railway track by migrants in its southern neighbour Greece.
Migrants in the Greek refugee camp at Idomeni, near the border with Macedonia, have blocked rail traffic since March 20, an official of Makedonski Zeleznici told SeeNews over the phone.
All southbound trains are redirected to Bulgaria and then further on to Greece, she added.
During the most active season of the year the Macedonian railway company is operating at 20% of its capacities, the operator's director, Nikola Kostov said, as quoted by local news agency MIA.
According to Kostov, the companies hit worst by the blockade are steel pipes producer IGM, steel mills Mittal and Makstil, pipe factory FZC, fuel retailer Makpetrol, construction material producer Cementarnica and oil refinery Okta.
Some thousands refugees are awaiting their fate, trapped at the border between Greece and Macedonia. Tension on Macedonia's southern border has been escalating over the past months after the government in Skopje, acting in line with an agreement with Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia and Austria, decided to seal its borders to migrants, leaving thousands stuck in Greece.
In an attempt to find a solution to the aggravating refugees problem, last month the EU signed a deal with Turkey, under which Turkey should take back all migrants who arrive in Greece illegally and the EU in turn should welcome an equivalent number of Syrian refugees from Turkey. As part of the deal, the EU granted Turkey funding and lifted visa requirements for its citizens.
($=0.8768 euro)