National Bank issues new tender to finish baroque building in central Skopje
After five years of stalled work and €15 million spent, the central bank is evaluating bids to appoint a contractor; supervision contract was awarded to Studio Atrium.
The National Bank has launched a new procurement process to choose a contractor who will finish the baroque-style building in central Skopje that was started ten years ago but has stood idle for the last five, its structure left at a shell stage. So far €15 million has been spent on the project, which sits adjacent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
"The public procurement procedure for the completion of the construction of the new building of the National Bank is still ongoing and is in the final phase, that is, in the evaluation phase of the received bids. After the procedure is completed and the most favorable bidder is selected, a contract will be concluded with the selected economic operator, in accordance with the conducted procedure," the National Bank said.
The tender for construction supervision has already been completed: the firm Studio Atrium from Štip was chosen and the supervision contract is valued at €107,000.
Project history and costs
Work on the new National Bank building began in 2016 as part of the Skopje 2014 programme. At the time the construction contract was signed with Beton and the project price under that agreement was set at €23 million. According to the National Bank, more than 60 percent of the works foreseen in the basic contract were executed and Beton has been paid €15 million. The contract with Beton was terminated in July 2022 after construction stalled.
The planned building is to have eight floors, a dome on top, a baroque façade and, at the entrance, antique columns similar to those used on other Skopje 2014 buildings. The conceptual design was produced by Nikola Stakinov and Lazar Dimov; they also prepared façade proposals for the Ministry of Justice, the Pelagonija building and a building of AD ESM.
Critics note that the Skopje 2014 programme, carried out while the government led by VMRO-DPMNE and Nikola Gruevski was in power, involved extensive spending — the government spent some €700 million on that wave of construction — and left a legacy of unfinished or contested projects. The National Bank says it will sign a contract with the winning bidder once the procurement evaluation concludes.
Photo: SDK.MK)
