The European innovation index placed Macedonia near the bottom of its list.

The index takes various data points into account to see how innovative a nation is. Macedonia scored 45.6 points, and is sixth from the bottom, above only the war torn Ukraine, which is last, and countries like Albania and Bosnia. Switzerland scored best with 142.4 points.

Macedonia has an Innovation Fund, that is supposed to give grants to businesses and individuals who come up with or introduce advanced technological solutions. But in reality, it is used as a slush fund for politically connected businessmen and journalists.