Skopje, 6 December 2021 (MIA) – Some EUR 20 million is set aside in the 2022 budget for digitization. Software and hardware in all institutions should be provided in early 2022 and all laws, mapped for aligning the legislation regarding digitization, should be adopted by the middle of next year in order to be applied as of July 1, 2022. So far, 129 out of 221 mapped laws in the field of digitization, considered a mechanism in the fight against corruption, have been sent, Ljupcho Nikolovski, Deputy Prime Minister in charge of the fight against corruption, sustainable development and human resources, told a press briefing Monday. According to him, the first six laws from the Interior Ministry, including those on identification documents, should be debated in Parliament at session on December 9. “The government has already discussed 129 laws as well as laws in the field of judiciary. There are over 250 laws and with the legislation entering into force on July 1, 2022, the legal segment of the digitization process will be concluded,” he told journalists. To equip and digitize the Public Prosecutor’s Office and investigative services, the 2022 budget has been increased by 20 percent, allowing pays to rise by 15 percent and 71 people to be hired and 17 to be promoted. The 2022 new anti-corruption plan is based on four pillars – digitization, judiciary, professionalization of institutions and preventative measures. Regarding digitalization, following the example of Estonia, North Macedonia aims at digitizing its institutions by July 1, 2022 As regards the judiciary, the law on asset origin should be adopted in 2022 and investigative services at the Public Prosecutor’s Office to be established and fully equipped. Regarding the strengthening of professionalism in institutions, the plan envisages the adoption of a register of prices for public procurement based on 11 specification modules, installation of ‘personal cameras’ on law enforcement and customs officials, application of the ‘mysterious buyer;’ project, etc. So far, 80,000 companies are registered in the registry of declared beneficial owners. Regarding the implementation of measures included in the anti-corruption plan, journalists at the briefing were told that the laws on public enterprises have been passed, which envisage that the number of members in administrative and supervisory boards at central and local level should be reduced; that the law on prevention of corruption and conflict of interest is undergoing changes; that regulations covering the administration and public sector employees are being amended; and the strategy and action plan on strengthening of financial investigations for the period 2021-2023 has been passed.