Changes to the law on expropriation, that are being pushed to facilitate the Bechtel highway contract, would make it possible for owners of illegally built homes to seek damages if their houses are seized.

According to VMRO-DPMNE Vice President Aleksandar Nikoloski, this will make it very profitable for people to quickly build some kind of a house on the route of the planned highways, and then demand huge damages from the Government.

This item will cost us about 300 million EUR. If someone is now building on the route, or they begin to build now, without a permit, they will be able to demand money. This is deliberate plundering of the country, Nikoloski said.