Macedonia - Media Review – December 10

UTRINSKI VESNIK

- Macedonian Finance Minister Zoran Stavreski proposed establishing a consolidated body to supervise the entire financial sector in the country. Stavreski said that such a body would not diminish the authority of the central bank to monitor the operations of the Macedonian banking system.

- Macedonian steel mill Makstil expects its economic situation in 2010 to be even worse than this year, when the company experienced a decline in orders and output. Makstil said its production fell by 30% this year and it is expected to drop by 40%-45% in 2010.

VECER

- The number of tourists from neighboring Serbia and Bulgaria will fall by 40% next year, the president of Macedonia’s Hotel Association, Donco Tanevski forecast. According to him, the Serbian and Montenegrin tourists have already canceled all reservations for the New Year holidays on the Ohrid lakeside. Tanevski said that the EU visa liberalization for the Western Balkan that starts as of December 19 will also reduce the number of domestic tourists after the airline companies announced cheap flights of 29-99 euro from the capital of Skopje to all European destinations.

($=0.6783 euro)