SDSM party leader Zoran Zaev said that Macedonia will purchase a reserve of respirators from Israel. Faced with the closure of the EU market, the difficulties of accessing the Turkish market and a failed attempt in Brazil, Zaev said that 50 of the in-demand devices will be bought from Israel for 1.25 million EUR.

Market prices range from 25.000 to 40.000 EUR each, if you can get them. A decision was made to buy 50 from Israel for 1.25 million EUR. The Healthcare Ministry has the money and we will purchase them, said Zaev, who de-facto runs the Government through his lieutenant Oliver Spasovski.

When asked about the high price, Zaev insisted that the purchase will be transparent. An earlier attempt by the notoriously corrupt public healthcare system to buy devices from Brazil was criticized because of the inflated price.