Reports on state cars with red plates fall — official says abuses have decreased

The number of citizen reports about state vehicles marked with red-yellow licence plates has fallen sharply since the system was introduced, according to Ivica Tomovski, director of the Service for General and Common Affairs (SGCA). Authorities say the drop reflects fewer abuses, but journalists who followed up on specific cases found delays and gaps in verification that leave questions over public trust in the tool.

“As of yesterday, around 1,000 vehicles have received red-yellow plates… In several statements I have said that I do not expect more than 2 to 2,500 vehicles will be needed by the state,” Tomovski said in September 2025, describing the rollout of the new plates.

Reporters documented two examples of state vehicles parked in questionable places. On Ilinden day — which this year fell on a Sunday — a government car was observed parked improperly near the Transport Centre in Skopje while the driver waited for a passenger. Two weeks later a Dacia Duster with red plates was photographed parked in a residential lot in the Kisela Voda municipality. Both incidents were submitted to the SGCA with photos and video, but the agency has asked for additional materials in at least one case, saying the footage did not clearly show the licence plate.

What the official records show

Tomovski told reporters that when the system began last year the SGCA received about twenty reports per month; in recent months that figure has fallen to roughly three to five. “Are there still certain potential or possible abuses? I am sure that there are, you can find some vehicle for the weekend, you can find some vehicle parked somewhere at home, but I expect over time that that will also be rooted out because those vehicles are now visible, subject to public criticism, are sent to us, we share them with the citizens, we share the citizens with you, the media,” he said.

The SGCA supplied a partial breakdown for 25 of the 66 reports the office had handled so far. The largest number — seven — concerned vehicles allegedly used by the public enterprise National Park Galičica; all those complaints were found to be unfounded. Two reports each related to REK Bitola, the State Market Inspectorate, PIOM and the Ministry of Culture. Investigators concluded the REK Bitola vehicles were legitimately on site for urgent repairs. So far, abuse was officially confirmed in only one case: a vehicle registered to the Agency for Emigration.

In response to one complaint about a car observed at a residential building in Kisela Voda, the SGCA forwarded an answer from Aleksandar Jordanoski, director of the National Conservatory Centre, who said the vehicle had been used to transport a specialist team for protective archaeological excavations near the Saat Tower in Tetovo. “Given the high temperatures at that time, the excavations started at 7:00 in the morning. Accommodation for the expert team was not provided in Tetovo, so they had to travel daily on the Skopje–Tetovo–Skopje route. For rational use of time, one member of the team was allowed in that period, while the excavations lasted, to have the vehicle constantly at his disposal,” Jordanoski wrote.

Tomovski also acknowledged internal cases within the SGCA. He said the office had initiated a warning rather than immediate disciplinary sanctions for an employee whose conduct appeared to be inappropriate, adding that repeated offences would lead to formal disciplinary procedures and fines within the law.

Despite the official decline in reports, public confidence in the reporting channel remains mixed. One citizen told reporters, “I do not know how much abuse there is, but when I see a state vehicle, whether it is official or private, I don't know, if I see it being abused, I will certainly report it.” Another said skeptically, “And what if I report it, when it means nothing to anyone.” A third complained, “I don't know, but who will bother to report such things, when the state does not take care what is a state and what is a private vehicle, so we citizens are left to report by phone.”

Photo: press material from the event