Newsletter for July 2008

26.07. – 01.08.2008.

The Government will discuss the increase of the electricity price

“The Government has so far not discussed this issue, but this does not mean it will not be put on the agenda”, said Mr. Slavevski, the Minister of Finance.

It is no secret that the IMF even last year had the opinion that the price of the electric energy as the lowest in the region should be corrected by its increase.

According to the minister, the trade deficit is affected by the price of the oil as well, and during the past six months, although a smaller quantity of oil has been imported as compared to the same period of last year, still 64 % more money has been paid, of course the influence on that had the import of electricity which was expensive.

At the meeting the minister had with the head of the IMF, Mr. Mark Griffits, the overall economic situation in the country has been discussed, said the minister Slavevski.

Granit has increased its profits per share for 260 % as compared to last year

Granit has reported a profit per share (for the first half of 2008) which is 260 % bigger than the profit that the share gained for the same period last year. The gross profit per share for the first half amounts 59 Denars per share, which represents more than 4 % of the last price of that share. For the first half of the year the company has gained profits of the sales in the amount of 1,163 million Denars which represents a growth of incomes from sales for 63 % as compared to the same period last year. This is an extraordinary result of the company, but as compared with the gained profit for last year it appears it is within the frames of the already achieved.

The IMF sent a message – to pay attention to the measures for the reduction of the trade deficit

The conclusion of the IMF was that the country should pay special attention to the measures which will enable the reduction of the trade deficit, as well as a more successful control of the levels of the inflation. This was agreed upon at the meeting held between the President Mr. Branko Crvenkovski and the representatives of the IMF, the chief of mission Mr. Mark Griffits and the resident representative of the IMF in the country, Mr. Bert van Selm.

The foreigners will build an aqua park in Aerodrom

Bulgarian and Turkish investors are interested in investing in the building of the capital objects at the territory of Aerodrom municipality. They were interested in finding the best locations for the construction of an aqua park and hotels. A special interest was shown for the location near the “twin bridge” where most of the planned objects are envisioned to be objects with sports activities. After the acceptance of the detailed urban plan, the most suitable solution offered by the investors will be reviewed, where the interests of the people living in the municipality will be the deciding factor, was stated in the announcement issued by the competent people from the municipality of Aerodrom.

The bankers are paid the most, the lowest salaries for the textile workers

Financial mediation, besides the insurance and the pension funds and accompanying activities in the financial mediation, are the most well paid jobs in the country, whereas the smallest salaries go to the employees working in the textile industry.

The Ministry of Labor and social policy stated that in June of this year the average salary for those who deal in financial mediation was 19.068 Denars, for the accompanying activities in the financial mediation was 29.481 Denars, whereas the salary of the employees at the textile industry was 4.512 Denars.

The second tender for 14 land lots at Velesko Lake has been announced

The Ministry of Transport and communications, for the second time this year, puts the 14 land lots for sale at Velesko Lake for the construction of hotel-catering-trading objects. To the potential investors, the Ministry is selling state owned property in the amount of 40.000 square meters for construction of objects for development of the tourism industry. A total of 14 land lots are put for sale at a price of 1.100 up to 3.000 Denars per square meter, on which 6 motels, 2 hotels, 4 auto camps and 2 commercial-business objects should be built. All the land lots are put for a public auction which should be held on August 22nd. All of the interested investors can apply for the purchase of the land lots and pay 10 % of the value of the land lot they are interested in buying.

With the Law on Electronic communications, the obligation for the implementation of the Agreement for stabilization and association is being realized

The Ministry of Transport and communications informs that by the amending and appending of the Law for electronic communications, the obligation for a complete implementation of the Agreement for stabilization and association is being realized, and the fulfillment of the key priorities is being enabled through the termination of the validity of the contracts for concession concluded between  the ministry of transport and communications and Makedonski Telekomunikacii, T-mobile as the legal accessory of Mobimak and Cosmofon.

By the termination of the validity of the contracts for concession an equal legal position of all the operators on the market of electronic communications is being created in regard of the realization of their rights and obligations arising from the Law on Electronic communications.

Greek banks control 28 % of the market in the country and in Bulgaria

The presence of the Greek banks in the country and in Bulgaria is estimated as the strongest.

In the country and in Bulgaria, the Greek banks control more than 28 % of the bank capital, the Greek newspapers quote. In Albania, the Greek banks control 20 % of the capital, in Serbia 19 %, whereas in Turkey they control only 4,4 % of the market.

The newspapers state that the Greek banks have so far increased the market share three fold in the countries of SEE, and show the trend of widening their presence in the region.

Stopanska banka Bitola with a profit of 1,74 million euro

Stopanska banka Bitola for the first half of 2008 has gained a profit prior to taxation of 1,74 million euro. This represents a reduction of the bank’s profit for 28,71 % as compared to the same period of last  year, when the profit prior to taxation amounted to 2,45 million euro.

The concession contracts with the telephone operators are terminated

The concession contracts of the fixed operator T-home and the mobile operators T-mobile and Cosmofon cease to be valid. This is provided for by the new amendments to the Law on electronic communications brought by the Parliament.

The operators will be issued the licenses for the use of the radio-frequencies with validity period until 2023 for Cosmofon and 2018 for T-mobile.

The Ministry for Transport and communications says that in this manner, by this step, an equal position of all the operators on the market is enabled, and at the same time, an adjustment is being made in accordance with the European legislation.

Cosmocard Zona, a new pre-paid tariff model of Cosmofon

With this new tariff model the international calls towards Serbia, Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Kosovo, Italy and Switzerland will cost 11,9 Denars per minute. The tariff model is available with a monthly fee of 100 Denars and is valid for 30 days after the activation of the service. After these 30 days, the service continues to be valid and the payment of the 100 fee is automatically charged. If the user does not have enough credit on the account, then he/she is automatically transferred back to the tariff model which was previously used. For the national calls in Cosmofon Zona the tariffs of the tariff model Cosmocard Top are valid.

The new tariff model is available for all the pre-paid users  by changing the tariff model by calling the free number 141 100, sending an SMS to 124 with text TM ZONA, calling the Center for customer care at 124 as well as at all the shops  of Cosmofon.

The start of the service “number portability” has been postponed

The service will start on September the 1st of this year and until then the operators will have a trial period to test their local systems. These are the changed conditions within the rulebook for number portability which were adopted by AEK. The Agency says that everything is ready for the start of the service, but the operators are still not mutually connected, i.e. they are operating only with a virtual operator.

If the operators do not start with the trial testing between each other, they will be fined with 4 to 7 % of their annual incomes.

Until recently, the three mobile operators in the country have not submitted the pricelist for the service number portability to the AEK.

A new roaming offer by Cosmofon

Cosmofon has launched a new roaming offer for its pre and post-paid users. As of July 11th, all the Cosmofon users can use the new roaming offer on the market for outgoing calls and with no fee for the activation. With this offer, the users are given the option for calls towards all the Cosmofon, ALLO and Frog numbers at a price of 14,9 Denars per minute, and calls towards the other national mobile and fixed operators at a price of 24,9 Denars per minute.

The Government has decreased the contributions for pension and health insurance as well as for employment

The Government will decrease the contributions for pension and health insurance as well as for employment, was announced by the Prime Minister.

The pension insurance contribution which is now 21,2 % will be decreased to 15 %, i.e. on January the 1st of 2009 it will be 19 %, 2010 it will be 16,5 %, and on January 1st 2011 it will be 15 %. The health contribution which is now 9,2 % will be decreased to 6 % , i.e. 7,5 %, 7 %, and 6 % for 2009, 2010 and 2011 respectively.

The contribution for employment which is 1,6 % at the moment will be decreased to 1 %, i.e. 1,4 %, 1,2 % and 1 % for 2009, 2010 and 2011 respectively.

“The overall decrease is approximately around 10 percentage points and will be more efficient for the companies themselves, than was the decrease of the taxes during the past period”, said PM Gruevski.

“This measure will have positive effect on the industry, the increase on the competitiveness of the domestic companies and the decrease of their costs” Gruenski added. He stressed that by this measure of the Government the grey economy will be reduced since the unregistered employees will become registered and the reduction of the contributions will stimulate not only the domestic companies but the foreign ones as well to open more companies in the country.

“The decrease of the contributions will not result in the decrease or worsening of the services. The Services rendered continue, whereas the contributions paid are decreased” Gruevski pointed out.