Skopje, 20 May 2026 (MIA) — In addition to infrastructure investments, the government has allocated nearly Mden 770 million for scientific research, twice the amount provided in 2024, Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said Wednesday.

Mickoski was responding to reporters' questions at a cornerstone-laying ceremony for an extension of Joakim Krchovski Elementary School in the Gjorche Petrov Municipality's Volkovo-Orman neighborhood.

"If you compare this year's budget with that of 2024, you will see a two-fold increase," he said. "There is now somewhere around Mden 770 million in annual support for our scientists and researchers."

The prime minister said the government also secured free access to Web of Science and Scopus, two major scientific databases, to help scientists with their academic research.

"These are the first databases the government has provided free access to," Mickoski said, "so scientists and researchers can use them when writing their own scientific papers."

"We absolutely continue to invest in science, and that is our first priority," he said. mr/