Skopje, 6 February 2025 (MIA) - The Ministry of Local Self-Government launches field visits to municipalities across the country, to exchange experience, proposals and ideas with mayors, councillors and civil sector aimed at identifying challenges municipalities face and find appropriate solutions for their development.

As informed during Thursday’s press briefing, the Minister for Local Self-Government, Zlatko Perinski, stated that the visits will be carried out in three phases: meetings with the mayor and council members in the municipality, discussions with non-governmental organizations, the business sector, cultural and sports workers, and interested citizens, as well as on-site inspections of projects funded by the national budget.

The first visit will take place Friday in the municipality of Aerodrom, with meetings scheduled for Saturday with the civil, non-governmental, and business sectors at the “Ljuben Lape” primary school. On Sunday, together with the Prime Minister, a field visit will be conducted at a project behind the Capitol Mall shopping center, worth nearly MKD 46 million.

The next municipality on the agenda is Gazi Baba, where visits will begin on February 14. Planned visits also include municipalities such as Gjorche Petrov, Chair, and others outside of Skopje, including Kochani, Ohrid, Bitola, Tetovo, Strumica, Kavadarci, Veles, Kumanovo, Shtip, and Prilep.

Speaking at today’s event for the promotion of the initiative, Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said that the process led by the Ministry of Local Self-Government will be carried out transparently, giving citizens a closer look at the activities.

“The period ahead will be dynamic, interesting, and filled with projects that citizens want and will need. I urge you to follow us because it’s important for this process to be transparent, and for citizens to learn directly from us, as a government, about what we will be doing through the relevant ministries. Of course, the Ministry of Local Self-Government will coordinate the entire process,” Mickoski said.

Minister Perinski pointed out that the challenges municipalities face will be addressed by fostering direct contact and building partnerships between the government and the citizens, through which appropriate solutions will be found.

He added that part of the goals of these visits is to assist in the current phase of amendments to the Law on Local Self-Government, review the implementation of ongoing projects from the first public call for financial support for infrastructure projects, eliminate any uncertainties ahead of the second public call, and oversee the whole process from project approval to commencement. Additionally, the visits seek to prevent any possible harmful actions by certain mayors during an election year.

Earlier, Perinski informed that next week the second call will be announced, aimed at supporting capital infrastructure projects in municipalities, after the government today began the procedure for the call, making up to MKD 15 billion available in funding.

He noted that in the previous call, 78 municipalities were awarded 288 projects with a total value of over €73 million, and MKD 800 million were granted through the Ministry of Transport for a special program to support municipalities.

Photo: MIA