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	Business News Archive Macedonia-UK business news Search EBRD activities in Macedonia Tenders Monthly Macedonian Business June 2007, No.68 vol. VII, Business, Finance, Investments and Markets in the Republic of Macedonia ANNOUNCEMENT For public bidding for sale of a construction land in ownership of the Republic of Macedonia located in Skopje, municipality Centre intended for construction of a trade centre International restricted Tender No 1/2007 Ministry of culture Republic of Macedonia

Last updated: 17.01.2008 Macedonia-UK Business News

Thursday, 17 January 2008

Source: www.mrt.com.mk

Presentation of Macedonia's investment opportunities before businessmen from diaspora

Wednesday, 16 January 2008

Unveiling the reasons for investing in Macedonia and presenting the visions for investing in their homeland to the businessmen from the diaspora, are the main objectives of Wednesday's Business Forum in Skopje that assembles 80 Macedonian emigrants and over 200 local entrepreneurs. The Ministry of Economy organises the Forum.
- In the past 18 months, the Government of the Republic of Macedonia is doing everything in its power in order to lay the foundations for more successful entrance of investments in our country, to remove all business barriers and to allow favourable business climate for all the businessmen that will find their interest in Macedonia's investment potentials, said resigning Minister of Economy Vera Rafajlovska in her welcoming speech while opening the Forum.

She noted that most of the businessmen in the diaspora were already aware that the Republic of Macedonia represented a stable environment at political and macroeconomic plan and that the country's economy widely relied on the development of small and middle-sized enterprises.

- Macedonia's strategic location enables fast and easy access to regional markets mostly due to the free trade accords signed with 27 EU member states and 13 other countries including Turkey and Ukraine, thus enabling a free access to market as big as 650 million consumers, said Minister Rafajlovska.

She stressed that a real GDP growth of 6% was planned for 2008, as well as maintaining low inflation rate between 2,5 and 3%, projected growth of industrial production of 6,1%, of agriculture - 5,2% and of transport and communications - 11%.

Rafajlovska addressing the representatives of the Macedonian diaspora, outlined the reforms undertaken by the Government in the field of tax system, judiciary, education and improvement of investment climate.

The establishment of flat tax, regulatory guillotine, modernisation of customs procedure and the benefits offered by the Government in technological and industrial zones were pinpointed as unique benefits for potential investors.

- Regarding complete eradication of corruption, the Government implements judicial reforms and urges efficiency boost in terms of processes and procedures, said Rafajlovska, emphasising that Government's ultimate goal was to turn Macedonia into a land of IT experts which will contribute to realising the project "Vardar Silicon Valley" that "will highlight the benefits of technological and industrial development zones".

She observed that foreign direct investments were welcomed in transportation, energy and telecommunications sector, in industry and tourism development. Rafajlovska said she hoped that part of the business ambitions and projects developed by the entrepreneurs from the diaspora would be realised after Wednesday's business forum.

The advantages that are being offered to foreign investors in Macedonia were elaborated before the businessmen by minister without portfolio Gligor Taskovic and director of Foreign Investment Agency Viktor Mizo. Director of the Emigration Agency Vasil Naumov presented the legal authorisations of the Agency and the benefits it offered to the emigrants. Several businessmen, who have returned in their homeland, shared their experiences, including the director of the Dutch Chamber of Commerce in Macedonia, Ljupco Todorovski.

Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski is set to address the businessmen from the diaspora and Macedonia later in the day.

Thursday, 17 January 2008

Source: www.mrt.com.mk

First International Tourism Fair in Ohrid and Struga

Thursday, 17 January 2008

First International Tourism Fair, including the participation of about 250 representatives of the tourism sector from Macedonia, the region and beyond, will be opened in Ohrid on Thursday.
Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, who is the fair patron, is scheduled to open the event, also attended by president of the International Hotel & Restaurant Association, Ghassan Aidi.

The fair includes debates in Ohrid hotel "Inex Gorica", presentation of handicraft and other products related to the tourist offer in hall "Biljanini Izvori", as well as gastronomic contest in Struga hotel "Drim".

A two-day forum on tourism will tackle the defining of a regional tourism product, which the countries will use for performance at the tourism market in Europe and beyond. Over 70 domestic and foreign participants have applied at the forum, which will also include topics "Macedonia as a Tourism Destination", "Road of Cultural Heritage in Macedonia and the Region", "Road of Wine", as well as "Larger Regional Networking of Tourism Centers".

Fair participants are to take part Saturday (Epiphany) at the ceremonial throwing of the consecrated cross in Ohrid Lake waters. This manifestation is to be included in the tourism offer in regional countries, thus acquiring wider significance.

Tuesday, 11 December 2007

Source: www.mrt.com.mk

Macedonia's external trade scope - $6,85 billion by October

Monday, 10 December 2007

Commodity international trade scope of the Republic of Macedonia in the period January-October 2007 is 6851653 thousands US dollars. The export share is 40.0% and the import share is 60.0%. The import coverage is 66.6%, and the deficit is 1371463 thousands US dollars. According to data provided by the State Statistical Office, the most important products in the exports were manufactured goods classified mainly by material (45.5%), miscellaneous manufactured articles (22.9%), and in the imports were manufactured goods classified mainly by material (29.1%), machinery and transport equipment (19.0%) and mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials (18.6%) .

The biggest share in the total export by economic groups of countries have the EU 27 countries (66.1%) and West Balkan countries (29.1%), and in the import the biggest share have the EU 27 countries (50.0%) and Developing countries (30.6%).

Compared with the period January-October 2006 the export has been increased in all countries except in Developing countries. The import has been increased in all countries.

A Linux thin client for every child

Andrew Donoghue ZDNet.co.uk

Published: 05 Dec 2007 15:26 GMT

In September this year, the Macedonian government announced one of the most ambitious educational technology projects ever proposed: to provide 180,000 of its school-age children with computer access.

According to Ivo Ivanovsky, Macedonia's minister for information society: "The Computer for Every Child initiative is the largest and most important education project undertaken in the 15-year history of the Republic of Macedonia... Our goal is to build a knowledge-based economy in which our entire workforce is educated using information and communication technology within the next five years."

Aside from the logistics of rolling out new infrastructure on this scale, the obvious question is, how can a country that hardly ranks as one of the world's financial powerhouses afford a project that would stretch the resources of the richest economy? Step forward thin-client specialist NComputing and its cut-down, bloat-free approach to personal computing. The company's X-300 solid state devices allow a standard PC to act as a mini server, powering up to seven thin-client terminals.

ZDNet.co.uk caught up with NComputing's chief executive Stephen A Dukker to find out why Macedonia is betting its children's future on his company's technology, and why thin client is a better answer to bridging the digital divide than a green laptop.

What do you want to achieve with NComputing that other IT manufacturers haven't done already?
We are focused on dramatically increasing the base [of computer users] by reducing the cost. The user market has been stuck for nearly 10 years at 850 million users, which is generally seen as excluding the developing world. Gartner and IDC claim the developing world represents anything from 755 million to 855 million new users, but there are also large numbers in the so-called under-served markets in our own home communities.

In the US, the most crying need for computing suites is in education — as in the UK — where educational institutions are trying to achieve the goal of one computer station per student. In the US we are at the miserable level of one computer station per six or seven students.

If we find a solution to enable this next major wave of users, the implications on existing usage patterns and users are quite profound as well. If we find ways to open up these very large markets — that is primarily economic — we could revolutionise efficiency and usage of computing in the developed world too, as there is nothing in the solution that is unique to the developing world.

The project you are currently engaged with in Macedonia sounds like a massive undertaking, and possibly a record in terms of a thin-client deployment.
As far as we know this is the first country-wide, full education deployment where they made the commitment to equip every single student seat in every single school in Macedonia with a computer workstation, and achieve a one-to-one student-to-computer rating, which is the best in the world.

They will be rolling out 180,000 student seats, of which 100,000 are being done right now over a five-month period. They are going into high schools because those students are the closest to entering the workplace and they want them to be computer-literate. Next year 80,000 additional seats are being rolled out into primary schools.

These 180,000 seats make up 50 percent of the students in the country because they don't have enough classrooms for all the students, so in essence half of the students go to school in the morning from 6am till noon, and the other half go from noon to 6pm. This way, 180,000 seats service nearly 40,000 students.

What's the background to this deal? How can a relatively poor country such as Macedonia justify spending this much money and effort on computing?
With the election of the new prime minister [Nikola Gruevski in August 2006], his particular agenda that got him elected was a major commitment to upgrading the educational infrastructure of the country. If they were to join the ranks of the developed world, they had to be a knowledge- and information-based society.

This is the single largest commitment for funds in the history of the country. They committed €30m (£22m) out of a total country budget of €1.8bn  (£1.3bn) for education. They said that their usual education budget is about €800,000 (£580,000) — so that's a huge step forward. The people in the country agreed to a special tax assessment to help pay for this as they recognised that this was going to be the most important investment they could make. more…

Thursday, 29 November 2007

Source: www.mrt.com.mk

German - Macedonian Business Forum in Berlin

Minister of Economy Vera Rafajlovska Thursday at the second day of her visit to Berlin, will participate at the German - Macedonian Business Forum upon an invitation of the German - Macedonian Association and Federal German Chamber of Industry and Commerce.
Minister Rafajlovska will present business climate in Macedonia before the participants at the forum.

Representatives of 13 Macedonian companies and representatives of German companies that invest in Macedonia will participate at the forum. This activity of the Ministry of Economy is in accordance of the programme for improvement of the competitiveness of the Macedonian products at world markets.

Minister Rafajlovska is scheduled to meet the Environment Minister Gabriel Sigmar, Deputy Minister of the Federal Ministry of Economics Hartmut Schauerte and to visit the German Technical Assistance (GTZ) office in Berlin.

Wednesday, 21 November 2007

Source: NComputing

NComputing Announces Availability of $70 Virtual PC Solutions on Ubuntu Linux Operating System

License-Free Open-Source PC Solution With Complete Office Application Suite

REDWOOD CITY, CA--(Marketwire - November 20, 2007) - NComputing, the leading provider of virtual PC solutions, today announced the availability of its products on the open-source Ubuntu Linux operating system. Joining its Windows-based offerings, the NComputing open-source solution allows schools and businesses worldwide to deploy full virtual PC stations, complete with hardware, software, the Ubuntu operating system and the OpenOffice.org productivity suite, at unprecedented low costs by leveraging the excess power of their PCs and open-source license-free software.

This innovative solution, winner of the Wall Street Journal Technology Innovation Award for computer systems, allowed the Republic of Macedonia to fully deploy 180,000 student seats -- complete with 15" monitors, shared PCs and all software (including OpenOffice.org), peripherals, installation and training -- for less than 25% of the cost of the least expensive PC per-seat deployment.

Counting both Windows and Linux deployments, NComputing is already responsible for almost 5 percent of all new student seat computing purchases in United States K-12 public schools, a remarkable achievement for a company in only its second year of shipping products.

"NComputing has dramatically reduced the cost of PC computing to empower a new generation of users in underserved markets worldwide with affordable PC solutions," said Stephen Dukker, CEO and Chairman of NComputing. "Our virtual PC solutions, when combined with open-source software such as Ubuntu Linux and OpenOffice.org, are hard to beat. Macedonia may represent the largest global educational Linux rollout, but momentum is building rapidly in the US, with major Linux commitments by school districts in such locations as San Diego, Ohio, Indiana, and New York."

"Like most school districts around the world, Macedonia's education system has limited financial and infrastructural resources to address its need to provide all students with access to computers and technology," said Ivo Ivanovski, Macedonia's Minister for the Information Society. "By adopting NComputing's low-cost virtual PC technology bundled with Ubuntu software, Macedonia is taking the lead in providing computer-based education for school children."

The NComputing solution, available with both Linux and Windows operating systems, capitalizes on a simple fact: Today's PCs are so powerful that the vast majority of applications only use a small fraction of their computing capacity. NComputing's virtualization software taps this unused capacity so that it can be simultaneously shared by multiple users. Each user's monitor, keyboard, and mouse are connected to a very small and highly reliable access device, which is then connected to the shared PC. The access device itself has no CPU, memory, or moving parts, and the solution is easy to deploy and maintain. NComputing systems start at $70 per seat and in the past 18 months, over 500,000 NComputing systems have been deployed around the world.

About NComputing, Inc.

Winner of the Wall Street Journal's 2007 Technology Innovation Award, NComputing, Inc. was founded with the goal of making computing affordable for everyone. NComputing is a privately held software and hardware technology design and manufacturing company with offices in Australia, Canada, China, Germany, India, Korea, Mexico, Poland, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Headquartered in Redwood City, CA, the company's patented technologies drastically lower costs, improve manageability and reduce energy consumption. The current product lines deliver virtual PC computing solutions that are as low as $70 per user, affordable enough for even the smallest organization yet powerful enough for enterprise-scale applications.

Tuesday, 20 November 2007

Source: www.linuxplanet.com

Macedonia: A New Sun of Linux Freedom Rises
In Macedonia, Edubuntu Machines For Every Student

Brian Proffitt
Monday, November 19, 2007 09:44:09 AM

The Republic of Macedonia is one of the poorer nations in southeastern Europe to come from the break-up of the former Yugoslav republic. But thanks to Linux, they do have the wherewithal to get a computer to every student in the country, thanks to a program launched in 2005 known as the "Computer for Every Child" (CEC) project.

According to the Macedonia Ministry of Education and Science, more than 180,000 workstations running Edubuntu 7.04 have already begun to be deployed to Macedonian students. The students will share time on the computers, half in the morning and half in the afternoon.

Getting computers into classrooms is a high priority for many nations, and there are several opportunities to do so--the One Laptop Per Child and the Mandriva/Classmate PC projects being two of the more well-known efforts. The Macedonian program can take its place in this group, given the scope of the project.

The CEC project is one of the largest known thin-client and desktop Linux deployments ever undertaken, according to the Canonical, the commercial company behind the Edubuntu distribution. The Edubuntu distribution (based on Feisty Fawn) will run on 160,000 virtual PC terminals and 20,000 PCs (which each also support a student on the attached monitor) supplied by NComputing. The systems were procured and will be installed by Chinese PC maker The Haier Company.

The first 7,000 computers pre-installed with Ubuntu were shipped on September 4, a press statement from Canonical confirmed.

Not only is this one of the largest known Linux desktop deployments, but according to Canonical's marketing manager Gerry Carr, this is the largest "pure" Edubuntu deployment to date. There have been larger Ubuntu deployments, he added, notably in Spain school districts.

Carr explained that this news was a long time in coming. Back in 2005, a pilot version of the program was launched that put 5,000 Ubuntu machines in 468 schools and 182 computer labs. That two-year pilot was very successful, Carr said, which led to the implementation of the full deployment this year.

This is not simply a victory for Linux on the desktop, but a direct loss for Microsoft as well. In 2003, Macedonia entered into an agreement with Microsoft to legalize copies of Windows that were at that time unlicensed by the Macedonian government. Microsoft was also to devote resources for translating more of Windows into the Macedonian language. Details of the arrangement were never fully disclosed, though presumably the translation did take place, because Carr confirmed that, like Edubuntu, Windows XP was available in Macedonian.

Despite XP's native-language capabilities, Carr did not seem the slightest bit concerned about a possible operating system switchover along the lines of what occured recently in Nigeria, when a planned deployment of 17,000 Mandriva-loaded Classmate PC was almost derailed by an unplanned switch to Windows XP on the Classmate machines.

In Macedonia, it's extremely unlikely that such an event would occur, Carr said, because the Macedonian government had put so much time and effort into researching the Edubuntu-based solution.

"This program is also unique," Carr said, "because the PCs were purchased from scratch." Essentially, he explained, they were off-the-shelf systems for which Edubuntu was then certified. That certification process was made all the more easier by the fact that all of the systems were Intel-based, and Intel has done a lot of work with Canonical to get the *buntu distributions pre-certified.

Now that the systems are starting to arrive, Carr expects that the bulk of the deployment will be finished sometime around the end of the calendar year.

Thursday, 15 November 2007

Source: www.bapcojournal.com

Sepura steps in to Macedonia with major contract win

Published: 14 November, 2007

Sepura has won a major order to supply digital TETRA radios to the Police of the Republic of Macedonia, under a contract between its distributor 3Tech and the country’s Ministry of the Interior.

This order forms part of a large-scale reform of all branches of the police service in the Balkan state including a new TETRA network funded by the European Union.

State police in urban and rural areas and the Border Police will use the radios to give secure, continuous, instant and clear communication.

The landlocked state has encountered problems along its borders where mountainous and sparsely populated terrain has made it a target for illegal immigration and smuggling of drugs, weapons, alcohol and tobacco.

Nearly 4000 radios will be supplied including SRH3800 sGPS™ handheld radios and SRG3500 vehicle radios which include Gateway functionality to ensure continuous reception in blackspots of network coverage. All handheld and some of the vehicle radios will benefit from GPS to locate each police officer or vehicle using the TETRA radio.

The European Agency for Reconstruction funded the overall TETRA project at a cost of €9 million, where Siemens, in partnership with Rohde and Schwarz, implemented the TETRA network.

Kenneth Hubner, Sepura’s Regional Sales Director, said: “This is another major step forward for Sepura and follows other recent sales wins in Eastern Europe including Bulgaria and Hungary.”

Zarko Lenardic, of 3Tech, Slovenia, said: “The quality of the radios and the first-class customer support that Sepura offers contributed to winning the order.”

Thuresday, 15 November 2007

Telekom Austria Group: Results for the First Nine Months 2007 Withstand Challenging Market Conditions

Source: www.money.cnn.com

November 14, 2007: 01:05 AM EST

 VIENNA, November 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
 - Revenues Increase by 2.0% to EUR 3,630.9 Million
 - EBITDA Declines From EUR 1,535.6 Million to EUR 1,463.6 Million
 - Fixed Net and Start-up Costs for New Operations Weigh on EBITDA
 - Net Income Declines From EUR 498.5 to EUR 451.5 Million
  - Acquisition of the Belarusian MDC Strengthens Emerging Markets Profile

- Total of EUR 712.9 Million Returned to Shareholders via Dividend and Share Buyback During 1-9 2007

- Full year 2007 Outlook Raised for Revenues & EBITDA

Telekom Austria Group today announced its results for the first nine months of 2007 and the third quarter ending September 30, 2007.

Year-to-date comparison:

During the first nine months of 2007, revenues increased by 2.0% to EUR 3,630.9 million due to higher revenues from international operations.

Lower contribution from Fixed Net and costs for the launch of start-up companies in the Republic of Serbia and in the Republic of Macedonia in the amount of EUR 34.8 million led to a decline in EBITDA by 4.7% to EUR 1,463.6 million.

Operating income decreased by 4.5% to EUR 668.0 million as growth in operating income from the Fixed Net could only partly offset a lower operating income in the Mobile Communication segment.

Net income declined by 9.4% to EUR 451.5 million as a consequence of lower operating income and higher interest expenses. Consequently earnings per share declined by 5.7% to EUR 0.99.

Capital expenditures for tangible and intangible assets increased by 26.9% to EUR 534.8 million mainly due to investments in the Republic of Serbia and in the Republic of Macedonia as well as investments in the network infrastructure.

Net debt increased by 4.7% to EUR 3,317.4 million at the end of September 2007 compared to the end of December 2006 due to higher dividend payments and an increased share buyback. During the same period net debt to EBITDA (last 12 months) increased by 5.9% to 1.8x.

Quarterly comparison:

Revenues increased by 3.6% to EUR 1,277.1 million in 3Q 07 compared to 3Q 06 due to higher revenues in both segments.

EBITDA declined by 5.4% to EUR 521.2 million due to lower contributions from the Fixed Net as well as start-up costs of EUR 18.1 million from the operations in the Republic of Serbia and in the Republic of Macedonia. Operating income declined by 8.9% to EUR 257.8 million mainly due to higher operating expenses and higher D&A in the Mobile Communication segment.

Net income decreased by 18.7% to EUR 173.7 million during 3Q 07 compared to 3Q 06 mainly due to a lower operating income and higher interest expenses following increased shareholder returns via dividends and share buybacks. Earnings per share decreased by 13.6% to EUR 0.39 as a consequence of a lower net income. Group capital expenditures for tangible and intangible assets increased by 6.5% to EUR 158.1 million during 3Q 07 due to investments for the start-up operations in the Republic of Serbia and in the Republic of Macedonia.

US commits $6.8m to stimulate economic growth through private sector

Source www.mrt.com.mk Wednesday, 03 October 2007

An agreement covering several private sector assistance projects worth $6.8 million has been signed by acting USAID Director Michael Eddy and Macedonian Finance Minister Trajko Slaveski. The assistance will be provided by the American people through the USAID to stimulate economic growth and job creation by enhancing the investment climate and addressing trade impediments.

The goal is to make it easier and more profitable for both local and international businesses to operate in Macedonia. USAID’s e-Gov project is creating more transparency and streamlined governmental processes for businesses. Through USAID’s Business Environment Activity project, a legal and regulatory environment conducive to doing business here will be created. Other activities are strategically targeted to increase competitiveness and export potential of key industries, including the agricultural sector, and to stimulate small and medium-sized enterprises and local economies.

MACEDONIA RANKED FOURTH AMONG REFORMERS WORLDWIDE

The World Bank has ranked Macedonia in the top five reformers in the world by the World Bank’s Doing Business project. More »

26.09.2007

CAMPAIGN “INVEST IN MACEDONIA” COUNTINUES

Macedonia’s Agency for foreign investments has started with the third phase of the promotional campaign “Invest in Macedonia”. More »

Greek businessmen interested for investing in Macedonia

Skopje, October 2

Greek businessmen show huge interest for investing in Macedonia, especially in the fields of construction, agriculture, energy and tourism, concurred the participants at Tuesday's Macedonian-Greek business forum organised by Macedonia's Economic Chamber.

According to them, the dispute involving the name of Macedonia makes an influence, but it is not decisive for the business.

- The political situation plays a certain role. However, despite the name dispute, great Greek companies invested in Macedonia in recent years because they see the interest. The business has its own rules and logic, stated Aris Vlahos, president of International Council of Investors in Macedonia before the start of the forum.

Greece is among the five countries that accomplish highest foreign trade exchange with Macedonia, whereas Greek companies are amongst the most important foreign investors.

- Greek investments in past 10 years, being Dollar 284 million, may have been more impressive. Nevertheless, they confirm that Macedonia's economy has potentials that are of great interest for the Greek capital, said Economic Chamber president Branko Azeski in his address at the forum.

He emphasised the Macedonian economy has a need of investments for the development of technology and production, financial market and infrastructure.

- One of the main obstacles for Macedonian businessmen, but also for liberalisation of the mutual trade are procedures for obtaining Greek visas, said Azeski urging the governments of Macedonia and Greece to create as soon as possible regulatory frameworks that will influence the quality of the business environment.

Minister of Economy Vera Rafajlovska also addressed the forum and presented the reforms implemented by the Government in terms of tax facilitations, judiciary and administration.

As of June 1 2001, the foreign trade exchange with Greece takes place under the conditions determined in the Stabilisation and Association Agreement between Macedonia and EU. Due to this agreement, the stabilisation of the countries' relations and direct Greek investments in Macedonia, Greece's export marks firm growth in recent years - the export in Greece increased approximately 28,4% per year.

COMMISSION OF MILLION EUROS FOR BROKERS

Brokerage houses and banks will be included in the sale of 100 percent of the capital of the Negotino thermoelectric power station, which should officially go through the Macedonian Stock Exchange, once the sales agreement with Negotino's buyer, the Hatch Consortium, is signed.

Vecer has learned that the Government decided recently that the sale of the Negotino thermoelectric power plant should be realized through mediators to make sure the procedure is transparent. The buyer should pick the brokerage house and all the costs, as well as the commission, will be covered by TTP Negotino's new owner. This is the Government's latest decision, which has recently been published in the Official Gazette, after it was previously decided that these entities should not be included in the station's sale.

"The Government changed that decision so that the procedure may be realized more transparently. We have no information what the commission for the brokerage house will be, because that is an obligation of the buyer," Economy Ministry officials explain.

Brokerage houses charge various commissions, but the highest is up to 1.5 percent of the value of the sales deal. This means that the brokerage house to be selected by TPP Negotino's potential buyer may be paid 927,000 euros at the most considering that the station was sold to Hatch for 61.8 million euros.

INDIANS INVEST $8.8 MN IN ZLETOVO AND TORANICA

Gokul Binani, Indian investor and concession manager of the lead and zinc mines Zletovo and Toranica of Kriva Palanka, has so far invested 8.8 million dollars in mining equipment and machinery.

"This investment justifies the miners' expectations and optimism for restarting Toranica and resuming operations," company officials say.

Since being privatized to a foreign investor, Toranica has hired 240 employees and the management plans this figure to climb up to 500 by the end of this year. Toranica will resume work in early October.

DUTCH EXCELSIOR CAN BUILD HOTEL IN OHRID

The Dutch company is allowed to start building a hotel in the elite tourist complex Gorica-Istok in Ohrid. The council members of the municipality of Ohrid adopted Tuesday the city plan for this part of the Ohrid Lake region, where a hotel and residential buildings will be erected on 30 hectares of land.

Excelsior bought 4.5 hectares of land and plans to invest 7-8 million euros in the hotel.

The opposition council members criticize the local authorities of Ohrid over the adoption of the building plan for the sporting and recreational center Biljanini izvori.

"The municipality plans to put up a 'Chinese Wall' in Ohrid and line someone's pockets well," opposition council members contend.

The head of the building sector, Branko Arnaudov, says that in this region construction of two hotels and another five tourist facilities, but not apartment buildings, is planned.

VAT TO DROP FROM 18% TO 5% ON 28 SEPTEMBER

The Public Revenue Office stated that the modifications to the VAT law, stipulating a VAT drop from 18 to 5 percent, would become effective on 28 September this year.

The tax cut applies to medicines and medical aids, computers and software, thermal solar systems and components, and transportation.

The tax rate reduction will be equally applied in all turnover stages - imports, retail, wholesale and rendering services. Taxpayers will be calculating 5 percent VAT on all income and report it as such in all documents issued for indicating and recording turnover, such as invoices, bills, contracts and declarations.

MACEDONIA TAKES ANOTHER LOAN FROM WORLD BANK

No sooner had it repaid its basic debt than Macedonia took another loan from the World Bank of 53.3 million euros. The loan has a grace period of 5 years, a repayment period of 17 years and an interest rate of 0.3 percent plus libor, which according to Finance Minister Trajko Slaveski are the most favorable conditions of all the loans Macedonia has so far taken.

The loan will be used for funding development policies, promoting trade and transport and boosting agriculture. The loan will be realized through three agreements that Finance Minister Trajko Slaveski signed with the World Bank resident representative to Macedonia, Markus Repnik, in Skopje on Tuesday.

Asked why Macedonia took another loan from the World Bank instead of implementing these projects on its own, Minister Slaveski said the loan was not ordinary and represented a complex support, consisting of both financial and technical assistance.

EUROSTANDARD BANK OFFERED FOR SALE TO TOP EUROPEAN BANK

The management and shareholders of Eurostandard Bank decided to offer the Bank for sale. The first package of shares of 10 percent will be offered for sale on 1 October, Eurostandard Bank's first general manager, Branko Tozija, told Vecer.

He explained that Eurostandard Bank was already in talks with two Western-European banks interested in taking hold of two-thirds, or 70 percent of the Bank's capital. According to the plan, 20 percent of the shares would stay in the hands of a few present shareholders.

The shares will be offered on the Stock Exchange at their nominal price of 1,800 denars per share. By the end of 2006, Eurostandard Bank's stocks totaled 1.1 billion denars, or 18 million euros, and its capital amounted to 18.5 million euros.

JOHNSON CONTROLS TO START TRIAL PRODUCTION IN OCTOBER

Johnson Controls will start trial production in its facility in the free economic zone Bunardzik in end October, said businessman Risto Gusterov, who represents the interest of the U.S. automobile giant.

In December and January, the facility will produce small series and proceed to regular production in February, Gusterov said.

A Johnson Controls delegation will come to Skopje on 24 September and will monitor the setting up of the equipment at the facility, which should be over by the end of October.

Thirty-four businessmen from the United States, Spain, Great Britain and Norway visited the free economic zone Bunardzik on Tuesday. They had previously taken part in the International Business Forum promoting Macedonia's investment opportunities.

EUR 400 MN FOR POWER IMPORTS IN 2008

Power imports next year are expected to cost Macedonia 400 million euros. Dnevnik has learned that power shortage of over 4,000 GWh appears in the initial projections for 2008 of all the energy companies and industry as a major consumer.

People close to the situation say next year the power price on the international market will most probably climb up from the present 70 to 90 euros per KWh.

According to information of Dnevnik, Elektrani na Makedonija (ELEM), Macedonia's power producing company, plans to put out around 5,000 GWh, while ESM Distribution and the major power consumers requested nearly 10,000 GWh, 3,000 GWh of which is power for the needs of industry. However, the companies themselves will have to supply most of the electricity they need.

MINI BUDGET REBALANCE ADOPTED

The Government provided the increased salaries for public administration employees with a mini budget rebalance that it adopted at its meeting Monday. With the mini budget rebalance, the Government allocated additional 2.4 billion denars, 1.5 billion of which has been provided through higher tax collection.

Half a billion denars of the rebalance is for the increased salaries of the public and state administration, 340 million denars of which has been provided from the budget rebalance and the rest is to be covered by the budget beneficiaries' internal funds, Finance Minister Trajko Slaveski said Monday.

From the new budget increase, 750 million denars is intended for financial consolidation of MEPSO, Macedonia's power transmission system operator. What exactly this money will be used for is up to the Government to decide.

The budget rebalance also provides 22.5 million euros to be paid to EVN in adherence with the ESM sales agreement, according to which the negotiated price can change provided that the revision shows deviations.

The new expenditures will not drive up the projected budget deficit of 3.4 million denars, or 1 percent of GDP.

IMF MISSION COMES TO MACEDONIA NEXT WEEK

The IMF Mission will come to Macedonia next week as part of the planned consultations over the third standby arrangement revision. Issues relating to the coordination between the fiscal and monetary policies will be in the focus of the negotiations with the IMF officials, Finance Minister Trajko Slaveski said.

The IMF officials will also consider how Macedonia deals with the structural surplus of liquidity in the Macedonian banking system, auctions, treasury bills and other mechanisms employed with the aim of driving down interest rates.

The IMF Mission will also want to learn about the ways in which the Government plans to provide the salary increase, as well as about the transfer of certain products from the 18 to 5 percent VAT group, and the preparation of the budget 2008, Minister Trajkovski explained.

CUSTOMS TO CHARGE EXCISE?

The Customs demands to be allowed collect duties on all excise goods for the sake of reducing tax evasion, Vecer learned. The Public Revenue Office collects as much as 95 percent of the excise.

STATE-RUN POWER STATIONS WANT TO SELL ELECTRICITY

Elektrani na Makedonija (ELEM) demands to be allowed to sell electricity to consumers, given that the law grants this possibility only to the Macedonian power transmission system operator (MEPSO) and ESM-EVN.

In his letter to Economy Minister Vera Rafajlovska, ELEM Director Vlatko Cingoski demands that by modifying the energy law ELEM is also allowed to retail and wholesale power to consumers.

He further says in his letter that with this legal modification a lot of problems the state-run company currently faces would be resolved.

"A portion of the electricity that we produce directly, i.e. without the mediation of MEPSO or ESM, is supplied to Debar, Struga, Kavadarci and Mavrovo. This portion in 2006 totaled 81 GWh," Cingoski said.

He also explained that through ELEM's branch, Energetika, through four direct 11-KV power lines a number of consumers, who do not have physical contact with either MEPSO's transmission or ESM-EVN's distribution networks, are already being supplied with power.

GOVERNMENT TO TAKE MORE LOANS AT HOME THAN ABROAD

Macedonia's total public debt in June declined by 156.2 million euros, or 8.5 percent, from the end 2006, to 1.675.7 million euros, or 30.7 percent of GDP, the Ministry of Finance stated. The aim is in the future structure of the country's public debt, to increase Macedonia's domestic debt at the expense of its foreign debt by way of issuing long-term securities, Finance Ministry official explain.

At the end of June this year, Macedonia's foreign debt totaled 1.012 billion euros, which was a decline of 167.8 million euros, or 14.2 percent from December 2006. At the same time, the country's domestic public debt increased by 11.6 million euros, or 1.78 percent, to 662.8 million euros, mostly because of the sixth issue of denationalization bonds.

Reducing Macedonia's total public debt is one of our general aims, Finance Ministry officials say.

"As our economy grows, our domestic debt will increase and our foreign debt will decline," they explain, adding that one of the goals to be achieved is development of the Macedonian Stock Exchange. The debt will be managed by issuing government bonds, which now have a maturity period of three years. The long-term bonds are expected to replace the classical taking of foreign loans, which brings certain risks.

MACEDONIA 2025 SUGGESTS FOREIGN INVESTMENTS, TELECOM COMPETITION AND SEPARATING BUSINESS FROM POLITICS

The president of Nortel and member of the board of the organization "Macedonia 2025", Mike Zafirovski, said he was satisfied with what the country has achieved as far as its economy is concerned and also offered his assistance and the assistance of the other members of the organization in promoting Macedonia.

"In this country there are major challenges and opportunities. We told the Prime Minister that this is a wonderful beginning, yet a lot of other things should be done and we will keep making suggestions and giving counsels to the Macedonian businessmen," Zafirovski said.

He singled out the work of Johnson Controls in Macedonia as an example that others should follow and pointed to the FDI, the development of the information technology, tourism and food industries as areas that the authorities and businessmen should pay more attention to.

"Competition is very important. Something should be done in the area of telecommunications too, while services should become cheaper and accessible to everyone. It is important to foster education, keep politics apart from business and promote good business projects so that foreign investors could note that there are investment opportunities here," Zafirovski added, asked about the problems Macedonia faced and which needed immediate attention to achieve good economic results.

After meeting the highly acclaimed businessmen of Macedonian origin, Prime Minister Gruevski said they talked about the possibility of helping the country attract foreign direct investment and make economic progress.

nTWO LOANS TO EUROPEAN INVESTMENT BANK REPAID EARLY

The Ministry of Finance made Wednesday an early full repayment of two loans to the European Investment Bank in the total amount of 6.82 million euros. The early repayment, according to the announcement from the Ministry of Finance, will save the country 385,000 euros in interest rates.

The loans were inherited from the former SFRY for the project for constructing a Trans-Yugoslav highway and are denominated in various currencies (euro, Swiss frank and yen). They have high fixed interest rates of 9.5 and 7.65 percent, which are much more unfavorable from the rates at which Macedonia may now take loans.

With the early debt repayment, the announcement further relates, the Ministry of Finance is continuing its activities aimed at improving the country's public debt portfolio and reducing the central budget expanses for interest rates.

As a result of this, interest costs in the budget 2007 dropped by 7.4 million euros, while the overall debt of the general government of December 2006 declined by 156.2 million euros, to 1,517.5 million euros, or 27.8 percent of GDP, which is considerably below the Maastricht criteria, according to which the debt of the general government must not exceed 60 percent of GDP, the Ministry of Finance said.

EUR 150 MN FOR CONSTRUCTION

OF FOUR FACTORIES

Stiafilko, a multinational company with Greek, Dutch and Spanish capital, will invest 150 million euros in building four factories in the new industrial zone in Strumica and to this end it has already set up the firm Istos in Macedonia.

The four processing facilities will take on at least 3,000 employees. Investors plan to lay the foundations of the first factory in October this year.

"The four separate facilities will produce finished and intermediate textile products and electrical materials and can food. At the moment this is one of the major foreign investment undertakings in Macedonia. Accoridng to the plan, the factories for textile and canned food will be put into practice in the course of next year and have a 1,500-strong workforce," said Strumica Mayor Zoran Zaev.

MACEDONIA'S LONG-TERM CREDIT RATINGS IMPROVE

Fitch Ratings changed Tuesday Macedonia's long-term foreign and local currency ratings of 'BB+ ' with Stable Outlook into 'BB+' with Positive Outlook, the Ministry of Finance announced.

The agency confirmed the short-term foreign currency ratings of 'B' and the country's ceiling of 'BBB-', which are the highest ratings before Macedonia receives its investment ratings.

"The credit rating improvement is a result of the ambitious program of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia for creation of a positive business environment and attracting foreign direct investment. The change from a Stable to Positive Outlook is also a result of the undertaken structural reforms, which include cutting red-tape procedures (Regulatory Guillotine Project), tax policy modifications and more efficient resolution of court proceedings," relates the announcement from the Ministry of Finance.

According to the Ministry, this will contribute to subduing unemployment and increasing the economic growth rate.

"The improvement is a result of the stable denar exchange rate, the low inflation rate, the increased foreign currency reserves, which in 2006 covered 5-month imports, and Macedonia's successful policy as regards its early debt repayment to the IMF, the Paris Club of Creditors and the World Bank."

DOMESTIC FUNDS TO INVIGORATE STOCK EXCHANGE

The setting up of domestic investment funds will invigorate the Stock Exchange and will drive up the prices of shares of certain companies, stock market analyst Krste Sajnoski told Vecer.

The foreign investment funds, which started investing in Macedonia in 2005, already revitalized the Macedonian stock market. The growing interest in their establishment is due to the legal modifications, which reduced the required establishment equity. According to Sajnoski, after realizing the positive trend and the profits foreign funds make, domestic investors decided to set up investment funds too.

The first domestic fund on the capital market is expected to start operations this autumn, although legal conditions for setting up such funds were created in 2000. Ilirika Fund Management submitted a request to the Securities and Exchange Commission for establishment of two open investment funds in early August.

The first will operate at home and in the region and the second will invest on foreign stock markets. The open investment funds will issue holding certificates to investors for their invested capital, which they can withdraw at any time.

NBM TO IMPROVE CREDIT REGISTER

The National Bank of Macedonia (NBM) is preparing a new credit register, in which there will be detailed information about the debts of banks, citizens and firms. The register will also contain data on their credit worthiness and information on whether they are repaying their loans on a regular basis.

Banks need this information when approving credits in order to have an insight into the number of banks the credit applicants had previously applied for loans and whether they are repaying their liabilities on time.

Bankers say that the present register of the Central Bank has a lot of flaws and lacks information.

"The greatest drawback of the present register is the fact that it is outdated and has a restricted scope of data. A new quality source of data is very important for an efficient approval of credits," Komercijalna banka officials say.

In circumstances of bank expansion, it is important to reduce the risk of bad loans, experts explain. According to the regulations of NBM, every bank is obliged to report the firms having taken credits of over 500,000 denars and the physical persons owing more than 150,000 denars.

The development of the new credit register is part of the BERIS project for improvement of the business environment implemented by the World Bank.

The new register will become operational in the first half of 2008 because of the required tender procedures for procurement of computers and software.

nINVESTORS MOST INTERESTED IN BETON'S SHARES

The past week on the Macedonian Stock Exchange was marked by an increase in the prices of shares and the turnover, which reached about 7.6 million euros realized in 2,899 transactions, which is by 55 percent more than the previous week's 4.9 million euros.

The most traded shares were those of the companies listed on the official market, whereby a turnover of 5.4 million euros was realized, which is 72 percent of the total stock market balance.

Investors showed the greatest interest in the shares of the building firm Beton, whose price in the first three days of last week was rising by 10 percent a day and on the last day of the week peaked at 37,000 denars. In 128 transactions a considerable amount of Beton shares were traded for 460,000 euros.

According to stock market analysts, the interest in Beton's shares is due to its recent takeover by a foreign investor and the announcement of new investments.

From the ten most liquid companies listed on the official market, the greatest turnover of 726,000 euros was realized with Makpetrol's shares.

nRAILWAY COMPANY TO RECEIVE EUR 46 MN FOR 5 YEARS

The Government will allocate 46.2 million euros from the budget for funding of the railway infrastructure. Most of the money will be used for investments, as determined by the national railway infrastructure program, which was promoted in the Government on Friday.

The money will be used for electrical facilities, reconstruction and overhaul of certain sections of Corridor 10, procurement of maintenance machinery and equipment, conducting construction works at railway stations and debt repayment.

nMACEDONIA AND MONTENEGRO TOGETHER ON FOREIGN MARKETS

A joint participation in major foreign markets is the best way for Macedonia and Montenegro to market their surplus of agricultural products, Macedonian Agriculture Minister Aco Spasenoski and his Montenegrin counterpart Milutin Simovic agreed at their meeting in Podgorica, Montenegro.

The two ministers discussed also the idea of setting up a regional market of farming products for which donor assistance would also be sought.

"In this way the offer of agricultural products from Macedonia and Montenegro would team up. Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia and Bulgaria may also join us whereby farmers from the region would be afforded better opportunities," Minister Simonovic said.

Minister Spasenoski said Southeast Europe had comparative agricultural advantages.

"Farmers should be assisted with subsidies and other measures, but they should not be protected at all times for thus they would turn uncompetitive," he said.

FLAT TAX,DECISIVE FOR NORTHERN GROUP'S ENTRANCE TO MACEDONIA

The British Group Northern Group said it would enter Macedonia's banking sector, and mining industry and set about to explore new ore deposits in the country.

This banking business trust is a private company headquartered in London and Manchester and is the majority stakeholder of Duferco Group, the majority owner of Makstil of Macedonia.

The London group has already set foot on the Macedonian market through its firm Repro One, a firm set up in 1961, whose representative for the region since 1999 has been Makstil general manager Minco Jordanov.

The manager of Northern Group for Southeast Europe, directly responsible for Macedonia, says that after his company enters the Macedonia market, the country would turn interesting to other businesses too, particularly after the levying of the flat tax rate.

BONUS FOR CONSCIENTIOUS AND PENALTIES FOR NEGLIGENT DRIVERS

Drivers that in the course of the year will not cause any car accidents will be entitled to a discount the following year when renewing their car insurance policy. If, however, they have claims from the previous year, they will have to pay a higher premium, the National Insurance Office stated Monday.

The novelty comes into force on Wednesday and is a result of the start of the application Central Register of A/O policies and damages under the bonus-malus system.

INDO MINERALS AND METALS TAKES FULL OWNERSHIP OF TORANICA

The floatation for ore processing at the mine Toranica of Kriva Palanka became property of the firm Indo Minerals and Metals, whereby the company completed the technological process of production.

Indo Minerals and Metals paid 2 million dollars for removing the mortgage on the facility and received a property certificate too.

"The problem that checked the restarting of the mine has thus finally been removed. In three months we plan to start regular production. Seventy employees will be hired at the facility. Thirty vacancies have already been filled. Toranica's total workforce at the moment is 200-strong," Indo Minerals and Metals officials said, explaining that they had so far invested.

OCK MARKET SETTING NEW RECORDS

The stock market index, MBI-10, has noted a record rise last week. The price of the shares of the ten best performing companies listed on the official market lifted by 1.62 percent on Saturday, which is a record rise since the stock market's establishment.

The total turnover in the last working week amounted to 4.9 million euros. The price of the shares of the building firm Beton, which were the most traded shares, went up by 9 percent. Beton sold 1.5 percent of its capital in the total amount of 294,000 euros.

Makpetrol's shares jumped by 3.9 percent relative to the previous Friday, while Alkaloid's and Toplifikacija's shares increased by 7 and 8 percent respectively.

Makstil's shares climbed up by another 14 percent, while those of RZ uslugi lifted by 23 percent.

The share of OHIS, on the other hand, noted the greatest slide of as much as 24 percent.

43% OF MACEDONIA'S NEEDS FOR POWER MET IN 2007

Macedonia is not using enough its extant power-producing facilities, let alone making investments in starting new, experts say. They are not surprised by the sale of the thermoelectric power plant Negotino, because they say the country demonstrated it has no interest in making power sector investments, as is the case in the countries of the region and the EU.

Home production of electricity will meet 43 percent of Macedonia's needs this year.

"With the exception of the hydroelectric power station Kozjak, no major power-producing facility has been built over the past 16 years. Moreover, those we do have are not being economically managed. This year, for instance, Oslomej and two blocks of REK Bitola were being turned off at the same time," experts say.

They believe that the fact that regular overhauls were not being performed at REK Bitola on time created more loss than gain.

CENTRAL BANKS OKs MILESTONE'S ACQUISITION OF KUMANOVO BANK

National Bank Governor Petar Gosev gave the holding company Milestone of Iceland consent for acquiring Commercial and Investment Bank of Kumanovo. Central Bank officials stated Monday that Milestone could take hold of the shares within three months of receiving the consent.

Milestone will acquire 100 percent of the ordinary shares of the Kumanovo bank, which together with International Private Bank and Postenska banka (Postal Service Bank) is in the group of small banks licensed to do business only in Macedonia.

"The entrance of this strategic investor into Commercial and Investment Bank, in line with the provided business plan, is expected to be conducive to the bank's financial and operative restructuring and help the bank solidify its corporate management systems," representatives of Governor Gosev's Office said.

Vecer has already reported that representatives of Milestone's Board of Directors informed Governor Gosev on their intention to invest in Macedonia's business sector. At their meeting with the Governor, they said they wanted to invest in Macedonia's financial and banking sectors, leasing and insurance.

Milestone's total financial potential at the end of the first quarter of 2007 was 2.3 billion euros.

n UNEMPLOYMENT RATE STANDS AT 35.8%

The State Statistical Office said Monday that the jobless in Macedonia in the first quarter of this year totaled 323,287 persons, accounting for 35.8 percent of the total economically active population of 902,588. The employed totaled 579,301, or 64.2 percent.

Relative to the last quarter of 2006, the economically active population stayed approximately on the same level, while compared with the first quarter of 2006, it went up by 2.8 percent.

The number of the employed increased by 0.1 percent from the last quarter of 2006 and stepped up by 3.5 percent from the same period of last year.

The number of the unemployed declined by 0.5 percent from the last quarter of 2006, the Statistical Office said.

nNEW TENDER INVITATION FOR 27 SMALL POWER STATIONS

The Ministry of Economy is going to announce a new invitation to tender for management concessions for 27 small hydroelectric power stations. Water concessions will be granted for production of electricity over a period of 20 years.

According to the Ministry of Economy, small hydroelectric power stations can be put up at 400 locations across the country with installed capacity of 5 MW and may meet only 10 percent of Macedonia's current needs for electricity.

Investors should build the power stations within three years of receiving the management concessions and upon their expiry they should return the facilities and the land to the state.

At the first tender invitation for building 60 small hydroelectric power stations, eight domestic and foreign companies and consortiums received concessions for building 41 stations.

End

FOUR COMPANIES INTERESTED IN TEC NEGOTINO

Four companies are interested in acquiring the thermoelectric power plant Negotino. The four companies that submitted offers are the Greek-American consortium SENCAP, the consortium Hutch and McDonalds, Austrian EVN, and another Austrian company Verbund. Utrinski Vesnik reports that the main battle for TEC Negotino most probably would be fought between SENCAP and the consortium Hutch. These two companies submitted the best offers and they fully meet the conditions stipulated in the tender, unlike the other two companies.

SENCAP offered the highest price for the thermoelectric power plant – 68 million euros – and it promised to build a new power station with 600 megawatts of power.

The consortium Hutch, headed by Bulgarian firm Finance Engineering, offered 61 million euros and a new power station with 500 megawatts of power if it works on coal, 210 megawatts if it works on mazout, and 350 megawatts if it uses gas. EVN offered 20 million euros and a power station with 790 megawatts of power, while Verbund failed to submit an offer. It only provided a letter of intent and an investment plan.

The Government is asking for at least 38 million euros for this thermoelectric power plant. The new owner of TEC Negotino will be known by the end of this month.

STRUMICA INSTITUTE TO PRODUCE AGRICULTURAL SEED

The Institute for Southern and Field Crops in Strumica plans to prevent smuggling of seeds through the production of healthy seed material for gardening, industrial, and other farm crop, Dnevnik reports.

"The production of domestic classes of seeds will significantly increase the crops and quality of agricultural production. Some classes of seeds for tomatoes, peppers, and cotton are already being produced in the institute.

Source:MIC

IMF TO CORRECT PROGNOSIS FOR GDP GROWTH

Mark Griffiths, head of the IMF mission to Macedonia, expressed praise for the financial stability of the country in Skopje yesterday. He announced that the International Monetary Fund is prepared to make a positive correction to the prognosis for the growth of the GDP.

IMF is satisfied that the chief macroeconomic objectives were accomplished. Macedonia increased its foreign exchange reserves, even though it paid off its $300 million debt ahead of time. IMF also praised the new law on banks and it proposed measures intended to reduce unemployment and uphold the fight against the gray economy.

Finance Minister Trajko Slaveski said that the Government is forecasting an annual growth of the GDP of 6 percent. National Bank Governor Petar Gosev said that by the end of this year, the inflation rate would drop below the forecasted 2 percent and it would amount to 1.5 percent.

MACEDONIA'S FOREIGN EXCHANGE RESERVES AMOUNT TO 1.4 BILLION EUROS

National Bank Governor Petar Gosev said yesterday that the foreign exchange reserves of the Republic of Macedonia amount to 1.4 billion euros. He said that the foreign exchange reserves would increase by 130 million euros by the end of this year. The total public debt is estimated at 1.9 billion euros, while the internal debt is 844 million euros.

nCROATIA ANNOUNCES INVESTMENTS IN MACEDONIA

A large number of Croatian businessmen announced investments in Macedonia, encouraged by Agrokor's intent to invest 200 million euros in the country. Croatian Agriculture Minister Petar Cobankovic told Vecernji List that Croatia's investments in Macedonia could soon exceed the value of the investments in Serbia, Dnevnik writes.

Macedonia is Croatia's third biggest trade partner, after the EU and Serbia. But trade between these two countries is still modest, amounting to $263.3 million last year, Makfax carries the comments from Zagreb.

Croatian businessmen believe that there is room for expansion of this cooperation, especially in the agriculture and the food industry.

MACEDONIA-SLOVENIA BUSINESS COOPERATION ON HIGH LEVEL

I am very pleased that Macedonia's exports to Slovenia and Slovenia's investments in Macedonia are rising, said Slovenian Agriculture, Forestry and Food Minister Iztok Jarc, at the Macedonian-Slovenian Business Forum in Skopje on Friday.

According to Minister Jarc, who paid a one-day official visit to the Republic of Macedonia, the economic cooperation between the two countries is on a high level. He said he agreed with his Macedonian counterpart Aco Spasenovski to sign this year a memorandum for cooperation whereby Slovenia would extend practical assistance to Macedonia in joining the EU and share its experience of the process it already completed.

The Slovenian delegation that attended the Business Forum was made up of representatives of about 10 firms of the meat, milk and wine industries.

"Trade between Macedonia and Slovenia totals 120 million euros, 6-7 million euros of which is agriculture. Our market is fairly open to the Macedonian fruit and vegetables and the traditional export from Macedonia to Slovenia is on the increase. We are ready to help Macedonian firms find partners in Slovenia and promote themselves at our fair events," Minister Jarc says in his today's interview with Vecer.

Slovenian businessmen have already been offered to invest in a Macedonian milk company.

"For the time being, we intend to invest in technology and know-how. Only 2-3 percent of our production is exported to Macedonia," said Marjan Jakup, director of the second largest Slovenian milk company, Mlekarna Celje.

The company producing meat products, Kras of Sepulje, is considering opening a facility for half-durable meat products.

End

PRODUCTION IN HYDROELECTRIC POWER PLANTS HALVED

In the first six months of this year, the thermoelectric power plants Bitola and Oslomej produced 1 percent more electric power than they did in the same period last year, ELEM (Elektrani na Makedonija – Power plants of Macedonia) informed.

But due to the unfavorable hydrological conditions and the high temperatures, which further reduced the quantity of the water in the accumulations, production of power in the hydroelectric power plants has reduced drastically. By the end of last month, the hydroelectric power plants produced approximately 439 million kilowatt-hours, which is 53.78 percent less than the power produced in the same period last year, Dnevnik cites MIA.

REK Bitola produced 5 percent more power than what was initially planned. As ELEM's report states, the thermoelectric power plants produced 2,3 billion kilowatt-hours, which is 84.22 percent of the total production of power in the country in the first half of this year. ELEM informed that production has increased, despite the repair of blocks 1 and 3 in REK Bitola and REK Oslomej. Oslomej will be restarted in mid September.

End

Trade on Stock Exchange Reaches 20 Million Euros

There was a lot of activity on the Macedonian Stock Exchange last week. Following the weeks-long downward trend, the Stock Exchange experienced a leap in sales. Transactions amounting to nearly 20 million euros were registered on the Stock Exchange over the last five working days, which is 70 percent more than the previous week, Utrinski Vesnik reports.

This increase in trade on the Stock Exchange is mostly a result of the transactions in Komercijalna Banka and Telekom.

Three Macedonian Factories to Produce Bio diesel Fuels Soon

In a few years Macedonia will become a significant producer and exporter of bio diesel fuel. This opens the possibility for bigger growth of the agriculture. Vehicle owners will also benefit from this, seeing as use of this type of fuel increases the vehicles' durability by 15-20 percent. It also protects the environment, considering that less harmful gasses are emitted, Utrinski Vesnik reports.

Three domestic companies announced that they would start producing biodiesel fuel, which is gaining bigger significance and application in the European and world markets, primarily because of its ecological factor. The three companies concerned are Makpetrol, Stip company Brilijant, and Veles company Blagoj Gjorev. These companies announced a total annual production of 200,000 tons of bio fuel, part of which will be sold on the domestic market and the other part will be exported abroad. Makpetrol announced that it would produce its fuel from rape oil; the Brilijant refinery would produce its fuel from a number of vegetable oils, rape, cotton, or sunflower; while Blagoj Gjorev would produce fuel from sunflower.

These three firms' total investment in this type of production totals 25 million euros.

Austrians interested in Macedonian's power sector

Austrian businessmen are interested in increasing their presence on the Macedonian market through investments in the country's energy sector. Twenty Austrian businessmen, trying to learn more about the investment opportunities, were therefore part of the Austrian delegation of top political representatives paying an official visit to Macedonia.

"Austria wants to invest in Macedonia based on the results achieved over the past period, such as the 7 percent GDP growth rate, and the considerably improved investment environment. Austria is particularly interested in making investments in Macedonia's sectors of power, construction, and industry," said Deputy Prime Minister Zoran Stavreski.

In his view, the Austrians were impressed by the liberal approach and economic freedom

of businessmen, the fact that fair rules of game are being established in the country, that certain monopolies are being destroyed and that quality economic policies are being put into practice.

"There are several Austrian firms operating in Macedonia, including Knauf, EVN, and Grandsteten. Of course, we still have interest in investing in Macedonia, primarily in the sectors of energy and environment," Austrian businessmen said.

Age only retirement condition as of 1 September

As of 1 September age will be the only condition for retirement. Only women aged 62 and men aged 64 will be allowed to retire. The Government rejected the request of the Federation of Trade Unions to extend the validity of the provision allowing women to retire with 35 and men with 40 years of service, which expires on 30 August.

Under the temporary provision, which applies until 1 September, people could retire based on both their age and their years of service. The Government considers that this provision should no longer apply, Local Government Minister Ljupco Meskov said

Monthly Macedonian Business June 2007, No.68 vol. VII, Business, Finance, Investments and Markets in the Republic of Macedonia

Shares take precedence over bonds

Trading in shares, which has recently become a hit for both firms and physical persons, cast shadow on bonds, which are getting less attractive and do not earn major profits.

"The index of trading in shares notes staggering leaps, while the index of trading in bonds stays low. Bond profit stands at a mere 2 percent, which is almost identical with saving at banks, and so there are not enough motivating elements for more extensive trading in bonds," Macedonian Stock Exchange officials explain.

They further explain that the space for bonds to be used as a favourable payment tool has shrunk.

"They could have been used for buying state shares and stakes, but now that the privatization of state-owned capital almost ended, they can only be used for buying state-owned land. The discount on buying bonds is 80 percent, which practically means that when buying land with bonds, the buyer can get 20 percent off," stock market officials say.

The declining interest in bonds is also ascribed to their decreased quantity.

"Two years ago the private pension funds bought a considerable amount of bonds and their price climbed up. The supply is now much smaller and therefore the volume of trade is small too," brokers say.

MBDP Credits energy projects

Projects for energy efficiency and renewable sources of energy will be granted assistance from the Macedonian Bank for Development Promotion (MBDP).

"The credits will start being approved in a month and a half, while at the moment contracts are being signed with the banks through which the loans will be channelled. The credit line totals 6.2 million euros," MBDP officials say.

They further add that the second instalment of the credit line for maintaining and increasing employment of 5 million euros will soon be disbursed.

MBDP has so far supported over 500 development projects and cooperates with KfW of Germany, the World Bank, the European Investment Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, etc.

MBDP officials say the advantages of their credit lines are the low interest rates, ranging between 7 and 10 percent on an annual basis, and the repayment period of 3 to 7 years.

Four Tikves wines win awards at London wine contest

Four wines of the winery Tikves from the Special Selection edition won top quality awards at this year's International Wine and Spirit Competition in London, Great Britain.

Tikves's wines, Vranec Special Selection 2004 and Temjanika Special Selection 2006 won silver medals and were proclaimed best in their class, while Chardonnay Special Selection 2006 and Merlot Special Selection 2004 won bronze medals. The four Macedonian wines won the awards in a competition of over 5,000 wines from 50 countries across the world.

The general manager of Tikves, Gjorgji Petrusev, says that these prestigious awards are yet another confirmation that the winery produces top quality wine.

"The awards give us the motive to carry on investing in first class wines, in whose development we have already put over 10 million euros," Petrusev says.

Bitola Milk Company to export cheese to U.S. market

IMB, the Bitola milk company, will be exporting cheese to the United States market from mid August to mid September. Its management informs that this is IMB's first export to the U.S. Exports for the next five years have already been negotiated.

IMB will start its U.S. exports with the hard sheep cheese Pecorino Romano made by an Italian recipe through a special and long process of fermentation.

The new deal is likely to result into a considerable increase in the milk company's exports.

In addition, the export of unpacked milk to Bulgaria and packed milk to Greece at a rate of one to two trailer trucks a month continues

Energo sistem wins Bunardzik gas network project

Energo System of Skopje has three months to build the internal gas supply network at the free economic zone Bunardzik.

Representatives of the Directorate for Free Economic Zones told Total that Energo System won the tender competition for building Bunardzik's gas supply system last week.

The state-run gas transmission company GA-MA is in charge of supplying gas to and from Bunardzik and its deadline for completing the works is 15 September.

The free economic zone Bunardzik, which was renamed into industrial and technological development zone Skopje 1 three months ago, covers an area of 140 hectares.

The greatest investor in the zone is the U.S. company Johnson Controls, which signed a deal with the Government in February for taking over the land at a token price of one euro per sq. meter. The initial investment is said to total 20 million euros.

Customs and Japan tobacco international sign memorandum

for understanding

The Macedonian Customs Administration and Japan Tobacco International signed a Memorandum for Understanding today. The basic goal of the document, according to the director of the Customs, Vanco Kargov, and the vice president for corporate works at Japan Tobacco International, Kent Brown, is promoting cooperation in dealing with illegal trade in tobacco products, particularly as regards legal trade protection, and taking of measures against smuggling of original tobacco products and illegal production, trade and distribution of fake tobacco products. "It's obvious that it is in the best interest of the Macedonian Government and the Customs to eradicate all the illegal activities in the region and we are happy to be able to help," Mr. Brown said after signing the Memorandum.

The Memorandum binds the parties to cooperate in the execution of their future joint processes, such as sharing of ideas relating to the control of illegal trade in tobacco and tobacco products.

Construction of Aquapura Macedonia to begin in Autumn

The Portuguese company Aquapura, Hotels, Villas & Spa, will lay the foundations of the elite tourist complex in Prespa, Aquapura Macedonia, in the autumn. The diplomatic coordinator of the project, Jordan Plevnes, said construction would go underway during the Portuguese presidency of the EU and after the adoption of the building plan. The complex will be over by 2010.

"The architectural project, designed by the winner of the Grand Prix of Europe for architecture and professor at the University of Florence, Manuel Aires Mateus, was presented in December 2006. At the start of 2007, Aquapura bought the hotel Evropa for 1.4 million euros, and according to the project, this facility will be torn down so that an elite tourist complex and a winter resort is built instead," Mr. Plevnes said.

Aquapura intends to invest about 100 million euros in the construction of the complex, as well as in environmental studies about the influence on the environment, and the protection of all the nearby monuments, monasteries and artifacts in the region of Prespa.

Mr. Plevnes explained that the center in Prespa would be a high class resort, such as those Aquapura has built in Brazil, Portugal and Italy, and will not be intended for mass tourism.

Johnson Matthey to help reduce trade deficit

The British company producing car catalysts, Johnson Matthey, should make official its decision for investment in Macedonia over the next two weeks.

Foreign Investment Minister Gligor Tashkovich said the company would invest 80 million euros in Macedonia, yet the greatest benefit from its entrance will be the fact that thanks to its exports Macedonia's trade deficit would climb down to zero.

"Macedonia's trade deficit stands at about a billion euros and is one of the country's gravest problems. Johnson Matthey will secure exports of 4-5 billion dollars by 2013 and, including the effect of the imported intermediate goods, the deficit will practically cease to be a problem, Minister Tashkovich said at the briefing with reporters on Wednesday.

In regard to the criticisms that his colleague Vele Samak and he tour the world without any concrete results, Minister Tashkovich says he has no time for touring.

"Before I became Minister in Macedonia, I visited 75 countries. Only three of the cities I paid a visit to as Minister, were new to me," he said.

Minister Tashkovich considers the entrance of Croatian Agrokor his greatest finished project so far.

Slovenian and Austrian Banks take hold of Metalec

A few Slovenian banks and one Austrian acquired 25 percent of the shares and became co-owners of the capital of Metalec, the Prilep facility producing steel constructions, for which they paid 1.3 million euros.

In the words of the non-executive director of Metalec, Jandre Zdraveski, the value of a share on the Stock Exchange peaked at 110 euros, and there is also rising interest in buying shares from physical persons, who hold 45 percent of the assets at the moment. Metalotehnika is still a dominant shareholder with a 30 percent stake of the capital.

Metalec is working at full capacity and has secured work until the end of 2008. We have already won the two tender competitions for making steel constructions for hydroelectric power stations in the region of Krusevo and maximum efforts are being made for capturing foreign markets too," manager Zdraveski says.

At the moment deals of about 5 million euros for building bridges for Albanian partners in Vlora and Durres, and a deal for building a shopping center for a partner in Montenegro of one million euros are being carried out.

Macedonian Railway Company splits up

The Macedonian railway company (AD Makedonski zeleznici) officially split up into two state-owned companies, for infrastructure and transport, JP MZ Infrastruktura and AD MZ Transport. The transport company will later go private.

The manager of Makedonski zeleznici will hereafter be manager of the infrastructure company, while Petre Delov has been appointed manager of MZ Transport.

The new companies have been entered into the Central Register, their assets have been divided up, and as announced from the Government, the activities have been completed in line with the timetable defined in the plan on the railway company's transformation.

Alkaloid applies new software for more competitive production

Alkaloid put into effect the information system SAP, which should make this company's production more competitive on a global scale. The implementation of the software cost 2 million euros.

"The software will improve the performance efficiency and fulfillment of world standards in the pharmaceutical industry. Now we can set foot on the United States market," Zivko Mukaetov, Alkaloid's general manager said.

The SAP system will cover Alkaloid's financial operations, management of intermediate goods and storage space, production and quality.

Mukaetov stated that in the first half of this year, sale of medicines climbed up by 20.5 percent.

Macedonia's first domestic Investment fund set up

Macedonia obtained its first domestic investment fund. The Securities and Exchange Commission issued an approval to Ilirika Fund Management to set up a fund management company. The firm Ilirika of Slovenia is the founder.

"The establishment of Ilirika Fund Management traces out the path toward establishment of two open investment funds, which as pioneers in this area will be collecting money from investors, managing it and investing it in assorted financial instruments," the Securities and Exchange Commission said.

Commission officials believe that the investment funds will make it possible primarily for small investors to invest their money in securities thereby being protected from major individual risks.

ANNOUNCEMENT For public bidding for sale of a construction land in ownership of the Republic of Macedonia located in Skopje, municipality Centre intended for construction of a trade centre

ANNOUNCEMENT

For public bidding for sale of a construction land in ownership of the Republic of Macedonia

located in Skopje, municipality Center

intended for construction of a trade centre

read more…

Industrial production in May

DROPS 5.8%

Industrial production in May this year declined by 4 percent from the previous month and by 5.8 percent from May 2006, said the State Statistical Office.

Production dropped in the sectors of energy by 41.4 percent, durable goods for general consumption by 16.8 percent, and electricity, gas and water supply by 30.4 percent. The downward trend proved worst in the oil industry where production of coke and oil derivatives in May went down by as much as 81.7 percent. read more…

International restricted Tender No 1/2007

Ministry of culture

Republic of Macedonia

According to article 29, 59, 60, 61 and 62 from the Law on Public Procurement ("Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia”, No. 19/04), the Committee for Public Procurement of the Ministry of Culture, announces the following read more...

Germanwings to start Cologne-Ohrid flights on 16 June

The German low-cost airline Germanwings will be flying from Cologne to Ohrid and back twice a week from 16 June to 26 August, the web portal Total reported.

"We received an offer from this airline and a month ago we gave them consent for making landings at Ohrid Airport," said Tomislav Tuntev, director of the sector for traffic at Ohrid Airport. In his view, Germanwings said their planes would be flying to Ohrid during the summer and, if there is interest, throughout the year as well. read more...

Chinese Scanners for Macedonian Border

The public procurement commission of the Customs Administration in charge of the tender competition for provision of technical aids of 600 million denars decided that Chinese scanners for control of vehicles would become an integral part of the equipment of the Macedonian customs officers.

The official announcement of the Customs Administration says that the three bids competed, yet the bid of New-Tech Co., Ltd of the People's Republic of China proved the best. read more...

Telecom to re-brand as t-home

Makedonski telekomunikacii (Telecom) will not re-brand as T-Com. Although the fixed-line operator should have re-branded itself as T-Com Macedonia, Deutsche Telekom decided to cancel the brand T-Com and introduce a new one. Instead of T-Com, the name that made all the fixed-line operators owned by Deutsche Telekom recognizable, Makedonski telekomunikacii will re-brand as T-Home. read more...

Bankruptcy trustee profession still highly valued

The interest in going through bankruptcy trustee training courses and taking a final exam is on the rise, because this profession is still considered profitable, although it has been underrated over the past period. This conclusion is all the more so relevant considering that half of the present 202 bankruptcy trustees and 50 new candidates signed up for training.

A portion of the selected candidates, or 102 from a total of 174 who received certificates, have already taken the bankruptcy trustee exam, Economy Ministry officials explain. read more...

Government to set up state Lottery

The Government is going to establish a joint stock company for state lottery, Finance Minister Trajko Slaveski said Monday.

As of 1 January next year, the State will be organizing lotto, lottery, instant lottery, football pools and TV tombola with the aim of generating extra budget revenues to be used as support for civic associations and projects of public interest.

"Half of the proceeds will be placed into a trust for funding construction and maintenance of sports facilities," Minister Slaveski said.

He further explained that this type of lotteries was organized in Great Britain, Belgium, Romania, Croatia and Serbia.

The games of chance will be organized by a joint stock company to be established with state budget money. Under the law on games of chance, the starting price for lottery amounts to 250,000 euros, for lotto 1,050,000 euros, for the pools 385,000 euros, for instant lottery 550,000 euros and for TV tombola 1,570,00 euros.

Business software by datalab

Macedonia's small and medium businesses have to make investments in the information technology so as to better their competitiveness and attract foreign investments, said Andrej Mertelj, executive director of the Slovenian firm Datalab.

He promoted in Skopje Monday Datalab's new IT business system Pantheon 5.5, software intended to ease corporate performance, which will be available in the Macedonian language too.

"The software is particularly interesting to small and medium firms, because they get more value for less money," Mertelj said.

In his view, the basic precondition for taking advantage of the benefits of the information technology is cutting internet rates in Macedonia.

First 15,000 Undershirts for the German Army shipped

The apparel-producing company Kimiko of Struga has recently shipped the first amount of textile products for the needs of the German Army, that is to say NATO, whereby the realization of the deal of 3.5 million euros, concluded last year, went underway.

The shipment consists of 15,000 100 percent cotton undershirts, which is only a small portion of the whole deal.

"This is a deal we struck last year with Work Fashion, a company from Germany trading in apparel, whose client is the German Army, that is to say NATO," said Marko Godzo, Kimiko's deputy general manager. "We signed the deal after having won the tender competition organized by the German Government, which was a successful wrap-up of the talks we initiated in early 2005."

The contract between Kimiko and Work Fashion consists of three sub-contracts, the first two for 2007 and 2008 being worth 1.2 million euros each and the third for 2009 amounting to 1.1 million euros.

Tax inspectors to be rated by Firms

The Public Revenue Office (PRO) will conduct a public opinion poll regarding its inspectors and tax administration's work by 30 June under the motto "PRO - Closer to Taxpayers".

With the aim of obtaining transparent and objective results, the opinion poll will be conducted by a separate agency. The poll will include 700 taxpayers, small and medium businesses and is expected to reveal the taxpayers' opinion and experience of the Public Revenue Office's work, the level of their approval of the work of the tax administration, as well as the problems they confront in tax procedures and the effectuation of tax regulations.

"Our objective is creating a modern and transparent tax administration with client-oriented approach to taxpayers, which implies building of partner relations with every taxpayer and provision of top qualit

Foreign stock markets opening to Macedonia

Macedonian citizens will be able to buy shares on foreign stock markets as of the middle of next year. This will be made possible by the Stabilization and Association Agreement with the European Union, according to which full liberalization of capital movement in the segment of portfolio investments will come into force on 1 June 2008.

"This approximation to the EU rules has already been incorporated in the Foreign Exchange Law and therefore the law does not need to change. In June next year the provisions preventing Macedonian citizens from investing in foreign capital markets will cease to apply," Finance Ministry officials explain.

Citizens will be afforded the opportunity to make savings deposits in foreign banks only after Macedonia joins the European Union. Authorities say that the present recruitment of Macedonian citizens for making investments in foreign stock markets through foreign investment funds is risky, but as of next year, once it is placed within a legal framework it will be safe because there will be protective mechanisms.

Experts believe that it is good for the stock market to open up to citizens given that they will thus have a greater and safer choice for investing their money.

Consumer Basket in May totals

MKD 10,633

The consumer basket for food and beverages of a family of 4 in May this year, calculated based on retail prices, totaled 10,633 denars, which is a 2.5 percent increase from the previous month.

According to the State Statistical Office, the retail price index in May climbed up by 0.4 percent, while costs of living increased by 0.7 percent from the previous month.

A price index increase has been noted in the group of farming products. A minimum retail price index growth of 0.1 percent is noted in the groups of non-food industrial products and the group of industrial food products.

The price indexes of beverages and services remained on the same level as in the previous month.

 Bank shares in focus of interest

The turnover on the Macedonian Stock Exchange in May this year totaled about 70 million euros, which is the second largest turnover this year, after that of April, which was by 10.2 percent higher. On the official market in May, a total of 3,365,761 shares were traded in 12,204 transactions of 2.8 billion denars.

Shares of Tutunska banka, Makedonska banka, Universal and Investment Bank and Evropa changed hands in a number of block transactions too.

Stock markets traders in May were most interested in the shares of Toplifikacija, Komercijalna banka, Alkaloid, Granit, Zito Vardar, Mavrovo, Makpetrol, Stopanska banka of Bitola, Makstil and Fersped.

The share of the shipping company Fersped, which peaked at 430,000 denars, was the most valued share in May too

The Ministry of Transport and Communication, ANNOUNCMENT

THE MINISTRY OF TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATIONS

ANNOUNCEMENT

for public bidding for transferring construction land in ownership

of the Republic of Macedonia

for building a hotel

read more...

Monthly Macedonian Business April 2007, No.66 vol. VII, Business, Finance, Investments and Markets in the Republic of Mac

Matka 1 to start operations next spring

The new hydroelectric power station Matka 1, which is being constructed right next to the old one Matka and whose construction began almost three years ago, will be put to use next spring.

"The new hydroelectric power station is being constructed on the old dam. The idea is to tap the entire flow of water by connecting the hydroelectric power stations Kozjak, Sveta Petka and Matka.

"Kozjak's capacity is letting 100 cubic meters of water per second. The flow of the old station Matka 1 is 18.6 cubic meters a second and so Kozjak's water would have stayed untapped. The new station with 40 cubic meters of water per second, and a flow of just as much through the tunnel, enables rational tapping of the water potential," says Ivica Skrinjarik, director of Makhidro, the Macedonian company of the Czech concession-holder.

The agreement between Makhidro and the Government and the agreement with the former power-producing company ESM were concluded in 2002, whereby seven hydroelectric power stations were rented to the Czech company until 2013. The Czech owners undertook to renovate the stations too.

Lamb Exports earn EUR 3.3 MN

The exports of Macedonian lamb to the traditional markets of Greece, Croatia and Italy, earned the state foreign exchange influx of 3.3 million euros.

With the last shipment on foreign markets, the buyout of lambs from Strumica, Radovis, Berovo and Valandovo ended.

Stockbreeders are not satisfied with the lamb buyout price of 150-160 denars per kg, which they believe should climb up to 3 euros, or 180 denars, per kg

Exports are an issue of survival

The quality of products has to be achieved and sustained in order to keep the buyers’ interest. On the other hand, on the home market, which is constantly opening to technologically highly developed and quality products from the EU and on which the preferential treatment to the Macedonia-made products is being abandoned, read more...

Macedonia's import/export ratio rises from 57.6 to 63.8% over 3 years

The structure of the Macedonian exports is not favorable, because it consists mostly of medium value added products. Iron and steel make up one third of the exports, apparel accounts for 21.2 percent, food 16.1 percent and other goods 25.4 percent. read more...

Agricultural register in the making after 40 years

A census of agricultural households will be taken after 40 years,

"Based of the statistics from the census, an agricultural strategy will be developed, which is one of the preconditions for meeting the EU standards," said Blagica Novkovska, director of the State Statistical Office, at a press conference Monday.

This is the third agricultural census after the first in 1960 and the second in 1969. The project, which will be conducted from 1 to 15 June by the State Statistical Office, costs 208.6 million denars provided from the central budget.

Business entities will be registered by mail, while farmers' cooperatives and households will be recorded directly through on-site interviews. The data of the census will concern the period from 1 June 2006 to 31 May 2007.

Source: MIC

British Assistance for Macedonian Entrepreneurship

The British Government provided 210,000 pounds for the project for promotion of entrepreneurship, competitiveness and innovation in Macedonia. To this end, Macedonian Economy Minister Vera Rafajlovska and British Ambassador to Macedonian Robert Chatterton Dickson signed the agreement on bilateral technical cooperation in Skopje on Monday. read more...

Government Relieves Elem's Supervision Board of Duties

The Government absolved the supervision board of the power-producing company ELEM (Elektrani na Makedonija) of its duties, over its allegations against ELEM's director and president of the management board, Vlatko Cingoski, that he unlawfully spent half a million euros of corporate money in sponsorships. read more...

Chambers call for new borders crossings

Opening and equipping the border crossings Jazince to Kosovo, Markova Noga to Greece, Klepalo to Bulgaria and Lojane to Serbia in order to foster trade, transport and economic growth in the region was called for by the presidents of the Economic Chamber of Macedonia, the Chamber of Northwest Macedonia and the Federation of Economic Chambers of Macedonia, Azeski, Dauti and Cekredzi in Skopje on Wednesday.

According to Azeski, the Government is acquainted with their initiative and is willing to implement these projects. The chamber representatives laid special stress on the need for adapting the Jazince border crossing to Kosovo for transport of goods and building a customs terminal, given that Kosovo is Macedonia's major trade partner. The faster flow of goods will enable easier access to the Pristina-Durres highway, the construction of which is in full swing.

First pre-accession economic program developed

Finance Minister Trajko Slaveski presented the first Pre-Accession Economic Program of Macedonia, within the framework of the dialogue of the ministers of economy and finance of the EU and the candidate member states, to the Council of Ministers of the European Union in Brussels on Tuesday.

Finance Ministry officials explain that this is the first program developed by the Macedonian Government in the process of approximation to the EU.

The basic goal of the program is expediting the economic growth and development of the country in order to subdue unemployment and elevate the standard of living.

Minister Slaveski told his colleagues that the macroeconomic performances of the Macedonian economy constituted a solid base for structural reforms that would contribute to the realization of the et goals.

The most important reforms are said to be those at the Cadastre, the trimming and simplifying of regulations, the modernization of tax administration and the improvement of the statistics of the national accounts.

Source: MIC

Government to replay Prematurely another $137 MN

Macedonia will prematurely repay 137 million dollars to the World Bank and the European Investment Bank, thus entering the group of countries with low indebtedness.

Together with the debt of 103 million dollars repaid to the Paris Club of Creditors last month, 240 million dollars are being prematurely repaid, Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski said. read more.

Short-Term Macroeconomic Indicators

GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT - in the fourth quarter of 2006 increased for 2.6% in relation with the corresponding period of 2005.

In this period the increase is realized in most economic sectors, in production as well as in services sectors. read more...

April 2007, no.66 vol.VII  INTERVIEW

MIC Interview with Blagica Novkovska, Director of the State Statistical Office

As an experienced statistician and director of the State Statistical Office, I believe that the statistics we produce reflect Macedonia’s economic and social situation. However, the extent to which a statistical data is true greatly depends on the source from which the statistical information is garnered. Building "statistical literacy" is a long-term process in which population of diverse ages should be included. This means that the Statistical Office in the future will try to improve the situation by way of taking a number of activities. I believe that with the Euro-integration processes and the full realization of the coordination role of the State Statistical Office in the statistical system of the country, we will succeed in creating conditions for full application of the European standards in the Macedonian statistical system. read more...

Stock Exchange makes weekly turnover of nearly eur 10 mn

In the second week of April, the Macedonian Stock Exchange realized a turnover of about 9.7 million euros, which is a 16 percent decrease from the previous week's 11 million euros. read more...

Macedonian Airports - Cheapest in the Balkans

The Alexander the Great Airport in Skopje reduced the rates of its services by 17 percent and the St. Apostle Paul Airport in Ohrid cut rates by 27 percent, whereby they became the cheapest airports in the region, Transport Minister Mile Janakieski informed. read more...

Conditions for second review of standby arrangement  met

During his stay in the United States, Finance Minister Trajko Slaveski met IMF Head of Mission Mark Griffiths and his team. It was reaffirmed at their meeting that as a result of the successful cooperation, all the issues of the second review of the standby arrangement were closed, Utrinski vesnik reports. read more...

Farming subsidies triple this year

The allocation for agricultural subsidies this year has been projected at 1.2 billion denars, which is three times last year's amount. The funds will be realized through four assistance programs - read more...

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Legal Framework for Business

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