On Monday, the Skopje City Council encountered a setback in passing the resolution to subsidize the public transportation enterprise, Skopje (JSP Skopje), for the year 2024. Despite 22 out of 45 council members voting in favor, 13 abstained from the decision. This resolution was crucial for ensuring the payment of December wages for JSP employees, who had initiated a strike, causing a halt in the city’s public transport services.

Post the session, the City of Skopje expressed disappointment, asserting that members from VMRO-DPMNE had once again chosen to deprive citizens of transportation and JSP Skopje employees of wages in a seemingly spiteful manner.

The proposed subsidies amounted to EUR 11 million for the year 2024. During the deliberations, Krste Petrevski, the director of JSP Skopje, emphasized the urgency of endorsing the decision. He warned that a delay could mean that employees might not receive wages until April or May, especially given the impending elections.

Petrevski urged the council to support the decision, emphasizing that nearly 70 percent of bus passengers were exempt from ticket payments, resulting in limited revenues for the enterprise. He highlighted the long-standing practice of city council endorsements for subsidies, which primarily contribute to employee wages.

Skopje Mayor Danela Arsovska echoed the call for council endorsement, disputing allegations of partisan hiring practices within JSP. She stated that the workforce had been reduced by approximately 300 since she took office in 2021, with layoffs for those who did not fulfill their work obligations, and she affirmed that no new employees had been hired.

In front of the City of Skopje premises, around 400 JSP employees anxiously awaited the outcome before and during the Council session. JSP Union president Mikjo Stojanovski expressed optimism that the buses would resume operations if the decision received the necessary endorsement.