SDSM: Skopje beset by failures under Mayor Orce Gjorgjievski

SDSM accused Skopje's mayor Orce Gjorgjievski on Friday of running an ineffective and corrupt city administration in the first year of his mandate, saying the capital faces traffic disruption, public-hygiene failures and stalled projects. The party’s city organization leader Aleksandar Davchevski demanded full transparency for every denar spent from the municipal budget and called for probes into suspicious public procurements and possible misuse of funds.

Criticism focuses on services, procurements and delayed investments

At a press briefing Davchevski said Skopje is experiencing “non-functionality, traffic chaos, accumulated waste, illegal dumps and problems with stray dogs.” He described the mayor’s 29-minute report as a party-political presentation intended to conceal the city’s poor condition.

Davchevski pointed to sanitation as a leading failure: despite the installation of 3,300 new containers, the city is not cleaner, he said. The containers are overflowing, illegal dumps have reappeared, and the solution lies in regular waste collection rather than placing new bins.

He also criticised public transport, saying buses arrive late or not at all, lines do not run regularly, and promised new vehicles and digital systems have not been delivered. Davchevski noted that the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project — for which €70 million have been secured — has been postponed again.

On procurement he raised questions about transparency and competition: according to Davchevski many million-euro tenders list only a single bidder and the offered prices closely match estimated values. He demanded publication of procurement documentation and checks by competent institutions.

Davchevski directly challenged the mayor with a list of unfinished promises: “Where are the 346 projects with which you sought and won the trust of Skopje residents? Where are the promised boulevards, multi-storey garages and infrastructural solutions? They are nowhere to be found and only excuses are given. And while projects are delayed or cancelled, serious questions arise about the spending of public money,” he said.

He accused VMRO-DPMNE of long-term blocking of city governance through its council majority and argued that current city leaders have been taking credit for infrastructure work started under SDSM — naming the Mihajlo Apostolski and Ljubljanska bridges and the Boris Trajkovski boulevard as examples.

Davchevski concluded that responsibility cannot be shifted indefinitely and Skopje residents do not seek miracles but basic services: clean streets, reliable public transport, passable roads after rain, maintained parks and delivery of promised projects. “The mayoral function is not a privilege for political self-promotion, but a responsibility for the functioning of the city. Skopje and its residents do not need another year of announcements and excuses. They need a city government that will work, solve problems and deliver results,” he said.

The statement came on the day the city marks the 82nd anniversary of its liberation on 13 November 1944. Municipal events include flower-laying ceremonies: at 11:00 delegations will place wreaths at the Monument to the Liberators of Skopje at the Partisan cemetery in Butel and at the Alley of Honoured Citizens at the grave of General Mihajlo Apostolski in Butel cemeteries; at 12:30 flowers will be laid at the Monument to the Liberators of Skopje in front of the Government building. The awarding of the "13 November" prize will take place this evening at the Macedonian Opera and Ballet.

Photo: press material from the event