and became the new Mayor of Kavadarci. Industry Wine Kavadarci's most famous export is wine, the city being home to the largest winery in south-eastern Europe. Vineyards in the region cover a total area of , producing up to 85,000 tons of grapes annually. The Tikveš winery is one of the oldest wineries in North Macedonia processing up to 55 million kilograms of grapes to produce approximately 35 million litres of wine each year. Of the 38,000 citizens, it is estimated that up to 85% are involved with the growing of grapes. The tradition of wine making and grape growing in the Tikveš region date as far back as the 4th century BC. The industry thrived during medieval times with its production as was common at the time throughout Europe being made in monasteries. The Tikveš region is in an area with a unique and favourable climate produced by the merging of the Mediterranean from the south and Continental from the north. Combined with arable soil, high with eroded clay content makes this a most favourable area to grow grapes. The combined municipalities of Kavadarci and Rosoman use 20% of the North Macedonia’s total landmass () for the cultivation of grapes. The country is the seventh largest exporter of wine to the EU from outside the region. Of the total harvested crop in Kavadarci, 80% are wine grapes and 20% are table grapes. The Tikveš winery processes up to 55 million km of grapes to produce approximately 35 million litres of wine each year. Although the largest and most prolific, Tikveš is by no means the only winery in the city: Others include Chekorovi () and Popov (). The combined wineries in the region export up to 26 countries. Ferronickel smelter Another important industry is the manufacture of ferronickel in what has become known as the "Nickel Valley". Until 2013, the smelter received at least part of its input ore from a mine in Rzhanovo, to which it was connected by the world's longest conveyor belt. The company FENI Industries, with a colourful history of owners that included for a time Beny Steinmetz, Alexander Mashkevich, Patokh Chodiev and Alijan Ibragimov in the Cunico Resources vehicle, produced between 12000 and 16000 tons of ferronickel annually. The smelter was shut down for a time in around 2018 and re-emerged from a court-administered insolvency process as EuroNickel Industries. Free Economic Zone In a