Skopje, 21 February 2025 (MIA) - Some of the loans have already been approved and requests have been submitted to the Development Bank for the transfer of the funds, Finance Minister Gordana Dimitrieska-Kochoska said after a meeting Friday with representatives of the Macedonian Chambers of Commerce (MCC).

The Minister said businesses investing in equipment and production will have priority.

The MCC welcomed the Hungarian loan, assessing it as one of the most favorable loans aiding businesses.

At the meeting, according to the Minister and the head of MCC, Trajan Angeloski, an agreement was reached for the business community to draw up a list of customs duties to be harmonized with the European rates.

“We requested that tax procedures be simplified, while in terms of the customs duties, which we must harmonize, we found a lot of understanding,” Angeloski said at a joint press conference with the Minister.

Angeloski said at the meeting the MCC reiterated that the solidarity tax was “unjustly implemented” and noted that the funds should be returned with a certain degree of compensation.

Dimitrieska-Kochoska stressed the Government isn’t planning any changes to the tax rates to avoid disruptions in the private sector. “Businesses should be free and should invest,” she said.

Photo: MIA