Skopje, 6 July 2023 (MIA) – Only 15 percent of 44 analyzed public enterprises possess the technical conditions necessary to act upon whistleblower reports, additionally, during the 2020–2022 period only three enterprises received whistleblower reports, show the results of the “Study Assessing the Conditions for Action upon Whistleblower Reports, Transparency and Accountability of the Public Enterprises in the Republic of North Macedonia,” drafted by the Institute for Strategic Research and Education (ISIE) during the December 2022 – April 2023 period, as part of a project supported by the US Embassy.

“Additionally, the Study also noted limited human capacities considering that out of 44 public enterprises, only 19 have a person in charge of acting upon whistleblower reports. Weaknesses were noted in the area of internal anti-corruption procedures and practices. Hence, 23 public enterprises have not drafted annual plans assessing corruption risks (or similar acts), 36 public enterprises don’t have acts preventing conflicts of interest and 37 public enterprises don’t have internal acts about their employees receiving gifts from third parties,” said ISIE.

The analysis of the study is aimed at assessing: the technical conditions necessary to act upon whistleblower reports, outlined with the Rulebook on protected internal reporting in the public sector; human capacities at the disposal of the public enterprises; procedures for acting upon whistleblower reports and the relations of the public enterprises with their founder (municipality or Government).

A total of 44 public enterprises were analyzed as part of the study, with information acquired from 43 enterprises. Additionally, the study covered 19 founders (18 municipalities and the Government), with information acquired from 17 founders (16 municipalities and the Government).

The findings were presented at special workshops organized in Shtip, Bitola, Tetovo and Skopje in May 2023. The study is available in Macedonian and Albanian language on ISIE’s website.

Photo: ISIE