Due to the catastrophic economic policies of the current government under Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, Macedonia fell 15 places on the list of economic freedoms within 4 years. This is the result from the "report of economic freedoms" of the Heritage Foundation.
Heritage notes that the government is in a red zone when it comes to the integrity of the government and the judiciary. Literally the government has a unit in this part. In the area of freedom of workers and free trade, we have a decline compared to previous years. Literally, Heritage's report states that it is now more difficult to do businesses in Macedonia than before.
They add that the time it takes to start a business is now taking much longer time and efforts, which is a feature of the bureaucratization of the system under Zaev. Heritage's poor ratings paint Macedonia's image badly and will put off any potential investor.
As far as the economic functioning is concerned, it literally means that starting a new company costs significantly more today than it did four years ago, takes more time and has much more extensive bureaucratic processes. All of this says that the bureaucracy is eating up the system and business cannot work, corruption is thriving and the economy is decreasing.
- Any serious investor, before deciding to get to know the country better, consider what the parameters of Heritage, Economist, Transparency International say about it. It is time to change that. It is time for Macedonia to move forward. It is time for Macedonia for all people - said a statement by the largest opposition party VMRO-DPMNE.
According to the Heritage Foundation, improving Macedonia's position requires judicial reform and a realistic fight against organized crime and corruption, which are now lacking.
Macedonia's ranking also fell in terms of freedom of workers and the market, but also free trade.
Shortly before the Heritage report, the US State Department had already warned investors of the high levels of corruption in Macedonia, which had meanwhile increased.
