Skopje, 2 December 2022 (MIA) – The private bus transport companies “Sloboda Prevoz” and “Makekspres” are setting up road blocks on Friday along the Ilinden boulevard in downtown Skopje to protest due to unpaid debts by the city’s public bus service JSP Skopje.  

Lenin Jovanovski, owner of private bus company “Sloboda Prevoz”, told a press conference on Thursday agreement has not been reached with Skopje Mayor Danela Arsovska and director of the Skopje public transport enterprise (JSP) Aleksandar Stojkovski over the payment of the debt owed to them. 

“We’ll see if an outcome is possible tomorrow or the blockade will continue over the weekend and next week,” said Jovanovski and added they would block more intersections if talks do not produce any results. 

He called on all institutions, including state institutions, to get involved as mediators in resolving the issue, in order to prevent the situation from escalating. 

The City of Skopje on Thursday said it is terminating the agreement with private bus company “Sloboda Prevoz” due to non-fulfillment of obligations arising from the agreement. The City of Skopje urged private bus transporters to relook into their decision on road blocks in Skopje, pointing out that it would not resolve the issue.  

“We urge “Sloboda Prevoz” to relook into the decision on setting up road blocks in the capital, because it won’t resolve the problem, on the contrary, that way the problem deepens. The people of Skopje are not to be a collateral damage to the irrational demands of “Sloboda Prevoz”. Blackmail will not result in agreement,” the City of Skopje said in a press release.  

Private bus transport companies first staged protests on November 28 by setting up road blocks on Goce Delchev and Krste Petkov Misirkov boulevards in Skopje, demanding debts owned to their companies to be paid before they return to work.