Deputy Finance Minister Gordana Dimitrieska – Kocoska warned that half of the companies who applied for the coronavirus stimulus package still haven’t received any funding. The measures that were put in place will cover some of the salaries of workers in companies who had a serious drop in revenue because of the shutdowns.

The initial package was worth about 5,7 million EUR. So far, only 2,2 million have been approved for payment. This is due to the poorly planned criteria that the applicants must meet. We have 1.300 companies that applied and just 631 have received funding. That is hugely dissappointing, Dimitrieska said.

As an outside observer in the Ministry, with a mandate to make sure abuses are reduced to the minimum, Dimitrieska said that instead of stimulating the economy, a major plan still pushed by Finance Minister Nina Angelovska is to cut salaries of public sector employees. SDSM party leader Zoran Zaev already made that proposal, but he was overruled by his own party. Dimitrieska said that this move would only be applicable as a statement of shared sacrifice, when workers in the private sector are hurting. But for this, she added, the public needs to see that unnecessary luxury spending items meant for the top of the public sector are also cut. She pointed to procurement of pricey foods and treats for the restaurants meant for top Government officials, which should be closed because of the epidemic, and said that the refusal to share the sacrifices will undermine any steps aimed at cutting broader public sector wages.