The NGO Infocenter, with the partner organizations Spektar from Kriva Palanka, the Citizen’s Initiative of Women from Sveti Nikole, the Organization of Women from Strumica and Active from Veles, conducted monitoring of the subsidies that the municipalities grant to citizens, in the period 2020-2023 year (until May).
The monitoring covered six municipalities: Kumanovo, Veles, Strumica, Kriva Palanka, Sveti Nikole and Lozovo.
At the same time, in the period from September 12 to 19, we conducted anonymous “online” surveys for the citizens of the municipalities included in the monitoring, to probe their perceptions about the granting of subsidies in the municipalities in which they live.
Most of the monitored municipalities keep very little or no detailed demographic and gender statistics when granting subsidies. There is no clear picture of what profile of citizens are most interested in subsidies, whether it is more men or women, younger or older citizens, in which parts of the municipalities the interest in subsidies is greatest, etc.
The most common types of subsidies that are granted are those for bicycles, inverters, solar collectors, then for connections to the gasification network, for yard landscaping, for communal services and rent for socially vulnerable categories of citizens. Some municipalities grant subsidies for public transport for certain categories of citizens, but also for all citizens, as for example, in Kumanovo. Some municipalities, on the other hand, like Kriva Palanka, earmark most of the subsidies for the support and stimulation of young people, especially for students and the unemployed.
The subsidies are foreseen in the annual programs of the municipalities, mostly in the programs for the environment, social protection, education and youth. Most of the municipalities did not provide an explanation on the basis of which they decide what type of subsidies they will award to the citizens in their municipalities.
Municipalities analyze very little or not at all the results and effects of the subsidy policy. This, in turn, leads to the conclusion that these are short-term support measures, for which it is difficult to determine whether they achieve their goal.
A total of 1,325 citizens participated in the online survey (Kumanovo 344, Veles 290, Strumica 247, Sveti Nikole 226, Kriva Palanka 193, Lozovo 25).
More than half of the surveyed citizens (over 60%) do not know what subsidies the municipalities grant. Almost half of those surveyed (47%) do not know whether the current subsidies correspond to the priorities of the citizens, and only 12% consider that the subsidies are appropriate to the needs of the citizens. 55% of the citizens who participated in the survey do not know how the municipality decides what subsidies it will award, while a high 90% answered that they have not used subsidies from the municipality in the last three years.
Read the full report Monitoring – Municipalities and subsidies for citizens.
The monitoring is carried out within the project “Active citizens and participatory democracy at the local level”, financially supported by the international center Olof Palme from Sweden.
