The government of North Macedonia declared a seven-day state of emergency due to electricity supply disruptions due to oil supply disruptions from Greece.

The measure allows state-owned electricity company ESM to use mandatory state oil reserves without compensation, the government said in a statement.

"This decision arises due to the inability to supply oil, which is essential for production. State reserves of oil extracted from oil will be transferred without compensation and ESM is obliged to report to the government and the Ministry of Finance on the consumption of fuel oil," the government said in Skopje after a cabinet meeting on Monday.

The ESM had asked the government to declare a state of crisis due to difficulties in supplying lignite and oil from Greece.

The company attributed the outages to blockades set up by Greek farmers at border points with North Macedonia, which have affected the supply of key energy sources for electricity production.

The ESM said the crisis declaration was necessary to enable the use of state reserves and to ensure sufficient energy until border crossings resume normal operation.

Most of the electricity in North Macedonia is produced by ESM power plants that use lignite and oil.

Bulgaria offered emergency oil supplies to North Macedonia after the declaration of a crisis, according to the Bulgarian government's press service.

The offer was communicated during a phone call between Bulgarian Foreign Minister Georg Georgiev and his Macedonian counterpart Timco Mucunski, according to reports.