An event on Monday formally marked the construction of Jane Sandanski sports center in Skopje's municipality of Aerodrom, which will be built in line with FIBA and EHF standards on the same location of the namesake sports hall.

The new sports center will include two sports halls - one with a capacity of 5.360 seats and an auxiliary one with 1.000 seats. The facility will also include a hotel, pool, spa and a modern fitness center amongst other things.

The groundbreaking ceremony was attended by PM Nikola Gruevski, Russian investor Sergey Samsonenko and the mayors of the City of Skopje and Aerodrom - Koce Trajanovski and Ivica Konevski respectively.

"Today's cornerstone is a foundation of a new sports facility where new generations will grow and train. The sports building will be a witness of new achievements - a place where new top athletes will be created to actively promote the municipality of Aerodrom both at national and international level," PM Gruevski stated.

The Russian investor said the center had no commercial background, adding that "everything that is due to be built will be left to future generations." He thanked the institutions for completing all the necessary procedures for start of construction activities in a very short time.