Macedonian environmentalists support the "Slavyanka" technology
Testing boats equipped with the "Slavyanka" based electric motors is in full swing on Lake Ohrid in North Macedonia. The drive based on the DA-95S combined winding motor was brought here by Andrey Lobov, head of the "Resurs" production cooperative. With the assistance of SOLARGROUP partner Goran Nastetski and other Macedonian partners, the motors were installed one by one on different boats: a plastic gliding boat, a dinghy, a medium and a large sized traditional boats.
The traditional Macedonian boat has been used on the lake for ages. This seemingly simple vehicle made of wood and iron had been refined by craftsmen for centuries. Andrey Lobov noted its excellent performance and expressed his willingness to create a solar boat based on it.
There are almost 2 thousand traditional boats on Lake Ohrid and they are actively used by the travel industry. But they all run on petrol engines, and petrol and engine oil pollute the waters of one of Europe's most beautiful and cleanest lakes. Andrey Lobov and the partners of SOLARGROUP spoke about the solution to this problem at a meeting with the local environmentalists: "This lake must be preserved. Environmentalists will step in, they don't need to do much to make it happen. They need to get two-cycle engines discontinued at the very least."
Boris Dzajkoski, a representative of the environmental community in North Macedonia, participated in the boat tests and shared his impressions:
"We tried it out today and the impressions are great: no pollution, no noise. This will make a huge difference to Lake Ohrid in the future because there are too many boats there. We are convinced that this type of motor will make a great contribution to protecting the biodiversity of the lake."
One of the initiators and main organisers of the meeting, SOLARGROUP partner Goran Nastetski, couldn't hold back his joy at Andrey Lobov's visit: "Finally, the expectations that we were nurturing over the past few years have been fulfilled. I believe that in the coming years this will be the number one project for protecting Lake Ohrid... In addition to the meetings we have had with environmental organisations and boat owners in Ohrid, we will work together to ensure that this project is given positive development and approval by our city and government."
Testing a "Slavyanka" based boat continues in Macedonia. Next in line is a meeting with fishermen and representatives of the travel industry.