Posts by Goran Lefkov:
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On the road with migrants: Germany via Gevgelija
The southern Macedonian town of Gevgelija has been synonymous with gambling for the past few years. But gamblers’ paradise turned into hell for hundreds of thousands of refugees and Macedonian policemen. Early morning, 4 o’clock. The train station in Gevgelija like a beehive. Migrants and refugees who want to reach their El Dorado, Germany via Macedonia, awaiting transport to the promised land. Mutual anxieties and squabbles stop when the...
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Poor municipalities hinder development outside the capital
Failing to comply with the Law on Balanced Regional Development and taking money from the concession of natural resources, the state economically exhausts the municipalities. These conditions revolt citizens from other towns. Stojan from Kocani is unhappy how the state allocates money. “Everything is built in Skopje. Nothing in the other parts of Macedonia. It seems that once Skopje 2014 has been launched, no penny has been given apart...
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Мunicipalities operate only for administration’s salaries, not for the citizens
Instead of government closer to citizens, municipalities are increasingly becoming institutions operating only for administration’s salaries. The investigation by SCOOP Macedonia shows that the increase in the number of employees before each cycle of local elections has led to a situation where more municipalities encash taxes and generate income only for employees’ salaries. Very few funds remain for paving streets, maintaining parks, schools or other areas important to the citizens....
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Party employment for dysfunctional municipalities
Municipality Rankovce is a leader by the number of employees in Macedonia. For 10 years this community has increased its staff by five times. In 2005 the municipality had 6 employees, while in 2014 their number rose to 31 people. Municipality Dolneni has had the same recruitment process for the past 10 years as Rankovce. But unlike Rankovce, this Pelagonija municipality has three times more inhabitants than Rankovce. Third...
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Number of municipal employees has doubled for a decade
Overstaffing in municipalities. This is the initial conclusion of the research of the Center for Investigative Journalism SCOOP Macedonia. From a sample of 10% of the total number of municipalities in the country, for 10 years the number of employees has increased at least twice. Number of employees in a representative sample of municipalities in 2005 and 2014 Municipality Number of employees in the municipality in 2005 Number of...
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MPs’ travel expenses are for a year
On her profile on the social network Facebook MP Silvana Boneva stated that it was not true that the expenses the online magazine “Inbox 7” had written about were for a year, but for two years. The documents show that all expenses were paid for the first 11 months of 2014. Some of these costs were incurred in 2013 (from May to December 2013 and paid in 2014). That...
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MPs: Cheaper to Dubai than from Ohrid to Skopje
Dubai is a destination that Macedonian citizens can visit by plane for just 140 Euros. MPs from Gevgelija, Ohrid and Struga for a trip to Skopje get from six to 8,000 denars from the parliamentary budget. Dubai is about 5,000 kilometers far from Skopje, and from Gevgelija to Skopje it is 30 times less, or 170 kilometers. It is not a problem for our MPs from other towns in...
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Express road to long-term problems in Eastern Macedonia
The express road project in Eastern Macedonia of 23 million Euros, as promised by the ruling party in the last election, has become more expensive to 56 million, not for a highway, but for expansion of the existing road which should become express road. The study of a German company, however, shows that the highway will cost 70 million Euros. Residents of the surrounding areas are in panic for...
