Exports from the manufacturing companies drawn into Macedonia between 2007 and 2017 now total all other exports from businesses who were created and invested in all of our history, said former VMRO leader and Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski. In a comment he published today, Gruevski decries the sudden stop of his policy to open Macedonia for manufacturing, which delivered and continues to deliver outstanding results.

It’s a crying shame that the new Government did not continue in our path after 2017. We brought over 100 foreign companies, and based on that track record we were on course to bring 200 more in the next 4 to 5 years. It would’ve meant a level of unemployment of just 5 to 6 percent in Macedonia, which was our stated goal, and a rise of living standards of at least 50 percent and possibly its doubling, as companies were beginning to fight over workers. We had talks initiated with 300 new companies when I left office and talks with 60 of them were well advanced. Some of them eventually did invest in Macedonia, such as Cagatay Kablo, but others left for Serbia, Romania and other countries. We lost the planned third Adient factory from our very nose and it went to Serbia. Aptiv did as well. Serbia also got investments from Continental, ZF, Brose, Vorwerk Autotec, Nidec.. We were in talks with some of them and we were sure to go after the others as well. But Macedonia now has other priorities, Gruevski said.

His comment was sparked by a rare announcement of an expansion in one of the manufacturing plants whose entry was facilitated by his Government – DraexlMaier which operates a major cable company in Kavadarci. The arrival of such companies was strongly criticized by the SDSM party at the time, which insisted that the jobs provided in the new “manufacturing zones” provide low salaries. Now, faced with the lack of any other source of job creation, SDSM leader Zoran Zaev is eager to welcome the rare expansion of one of the existing factories.