Around 600 users, primarily well-known hotels, restaurants, and other businesses located in central Skopje, Debar Maalo, and along “Macedonia” Street, as well as in Bitola’s Shirok Sokak and other areas across the country, were found to have stolen electricity by tampering with meters to freeze consumption, according to a report by “Code.” These manipulated meters not only failed to record usage but even returned electricity back to the grid.

EVN, the national electricity company, detected the thefts through its monitoring system, which flagged unusual consumption patterns. Following this, EVN teams conducted on-site inspections. At one bakery, they found electricity theft equivalent to the average usage of an entire village.

In a single day, EVN teams removed ten meters from one location, all of which displayed significant errors and unusually high frequencies. Due to threats encountered during inspections, the company often deploys teams from other cities to handle cases. In addition to other enforcement actions, users with faulty meters were issued invoices based on estimated consumption.

EVN has filed criminal charges with the Public Prosecutor’s Office against all individuals involved in the theft. The Prosecutor’s Office confirmed the charges are being processed. Electricity theft is a criminal offense punishable by up to five years in prison. Companies caught stealing electricity can face fines ranging from 1,500 to 15,000 euros. Annually, around 350 cases of electricity theft are recorded, according to “Code.”