Skopje, 2 March 2026 (MIA) - Addressing Monday's session of the Economic and Social Council (ESC), Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said the minimum wage is rising and it will be applied to March payrolls. According to him, the Government only undertakes those obligations that it can fulfill in its current mandate. Unfortunately, he added, this is a Government that will also have to resolve all the accumulated problems inherited from the past, due to incompetent, unscrupulous and poor management, first with government resources, and then with the creation of policies at the state level.

"Since we were elected as the Government, we have regulated relations with our colleagues for the most part. When I say for the most part, it means 95 percent and over, through Collective Agreements that have a deadline for implementation untill 2028," Mickoski told the ESC session on Monday.

The PM pointed out that unlike before, this Government is behaving responsibly and is only undertaking obligations it can implement until its 2028 mandate.

"We are behaving responsibly. Responsibly within the framework of the mandate that we received from the citizens. We are not undertaking obligations for the period after 2028, i.e. after the mandate of this Government, as was the case in the past. We simply want to be a responsible Government. Unfortunately, a Government that will have to resolve all those accumulated problems inherited from the past, due to incompetent, unscrupulous and poor management, first with government resources, and then with the creation of policies at the state level," he said.

Mickoski noted that an agreement was recently reached with the Union of Workers from Administration, Judicial Authorities and Citizens' Associations (UPOZ) and the Trade Union of Public and State Administration (SADU) over higher wages for administrative workers, pointing out that other trade union organizations that were not part of the initial negotiations have also joined in.

"As for the other parameters, our position is clear to the public and we have no dilemma here. The last open issue that we needed to close, so to speak, was the agreement that we signed with the UPOZ and SADU unions, and we did that. Other unions that were not initially part of the negotiations joined in there, but we wanted to have as much coverage as possible, and thus we also closed that open issue, which was somehow drifting around at some of the sessions of the Economic and Social Council," said Mickoski. 

He added that he expects the bipartite dialogue between employers and workers to continue to intensify in the future.

"We expect the bipartite dialogue between employers and workers to continue and intensify. As Government, we are always available to provide support within our capabilities and competencies. Institutional dialogue should be encouraged, because it is the only way to reach a constructive solution. Extra-institutional mechanisms always exist, Macedonia is a democratic state, but I believe experience has taught us that everything that is within the institutions brings a solution. And everything that is outside the institutions, I believe, not only does it not bring solutions, but it absolutely polarizes things," said Mickoski. 

Photo: Government