Skopje, 30 January 2024 (MIA) – The upcoming election process has been anticipated and will have a minimal impact on business, assessed the President of the Economic Chamber of North Macedonia, Branko Azeski, at a press conference Tuesday. At the conference, Azeski reiterated the importance of regular elections and short campaigns that won’t impact the work of companies.

According to Azeski, the priority demands that the business sector will deliver to the parties include the fight against corruption and the grey economy; swift gasification of the country; direct support for exporting companies; regulating relations in the media sector; and greater efforts towards the Euro-integrations and regional development.

The President of the Economic Chamber said the business community would continue and intensify the pressure it puts on the institutions in order to address what Azeski listed as key challenges – overstaffed administration, unproductive expenditures, and enormous loans without concrete realizations.

“Democracy means elections, but for us, currently, it is important that the elections are held on regular dates, that the campaigns are short and that they don't impact the work of business and companies at all. There has been progress in the past 30 years, and we hope that these elections will pass smoothly,” said Azeski.

Azeski also said the business community would demand the establishment of a mechanism controlling the expenditure of budget funds aimed for businesses.

“How can we establish a mechanism controlling the spending of budget funds that are directly intended for businesses and, above all, for capital investments, for irrational spending, and employment in the administration which take a big chunk of the Budget, and by doing so redirect a part of that social, unproductive component into development components. We are aware that this cannot be done in a single term, but the launching of that process would be a serious signal,” underlined the President of the Economic Chamber.

Photo: Economic Chamber of North Macedonia