Azerbaijan Jails Top Investigative Journalist

Investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova, who has written numerous hard-hitting stories on corruption in Azerbaijan, was sentenced Tuesday to seven and a half years in prison by the Azerbaijani authorities. The popular reporter, who worked for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and was a senior investigator for OCCRP, was convicted on charges of embezzlement, running an illegal business, tax evasion and abuse of power. Ismayilova insists she is being imprisoned for...

Macedonia becomes Balkan Las Vegas: low standards and too much gambling

  DOCUMENTS (Note: Documents for all companies are attached on links to their names. To view them click on link DOCUMENTS)     Macedonia is at the bottom of the list of Balkan countries by foreign direct investments. Official figures show that in 2013 Macedonia attracted only 251 million Euros foreign investments, Montenegro 350 million, Bosnia and Herzegovina 300 million, while the same year Kosovo registered 259 million Euros....

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...

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....

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...

Free Khadija!

A court in Azerbaijan has prolonged the pretrial detention period for Khadija Ismayilova, an investigative journalist and contributor to RFE/RL who has been behind bars since December. The Nasimi District Court in Baku ruled on May 14 that Ismayilova’s pretrial detention period will be extended for three months. Ismayilova, whose investigative reporting has exposed corruption by Azerbaijani government officials, was arrested on December 5 and initially charged with inciting...

Babies die due to bureaucratic obstacles

Petar is a young, 30-year-old man from a town in Macedonia. We met him to tell us the agony he went through trying to ensure prompt transport for operation of his newborn in Bulgaria. He excitedly tells what mazes he went through in those 7 days after the birth of his second child, who immediately after his birth had heart defect detected and a breathing problem. Hospital costs per...

COUNTRY OF RICH LEADERS

A modest house with little furniture, 1987 Volkswagen Beetle and other assets worth only 2 thousand dollars. This is the declaration of assets of the President of Uruguay, José Mujica, who is famous for being the world’s poorest president. In Macedonia it is difficult to find such a modest declaration of assets. Although the data entered is not complete, officials in Macedonia still have a lot to “boast” with....