NATO saved the economy of Northern Macedonia

Northern Macedonia, as a NATO member country, has received information classified by the Alliance since November 5 last year, which have suggested the necessary preparations to deal with the crisis that this war is bringing. This information has accurately predicted the period when Russia will launch a large-scale military operation to occupy Ukraine, so all measures have been taken so that this crisis does not hit the country’s economy. The same information was shared with Albania and Montenegro, as NATO members from the Western Balkans, a region vulnerable to Russia’s malicious influence.

Emphasizing the importance of being a member of NATO, the President of Northern Macedonia, Stevo Pendarovski, stated that exactly this information has made the country not to face a shortage of basic products in the market. He reassured opinion that Skopje sanctions against Moscow, however, would not have a significant effect on the country’s economy. “We can have certain problems, if the war lasts for months and months. Everyone will have this. “If it lasts a few weeks, we will not have a problem with the supply of basic products, from vital food to fuel,” he said.

According to official statistics, the total trade exchange of Northern Macedonia with the Russian Federation is only $ 200 million a year. Compared to Germany, Russia is far from being an important trade partner. Exports to Germany are 3.5 billion euros per year, while imports are 1.5 billion euros.

Unlike Germany, with Russia, Northern Macedonia also has a large trade deficit. It buys more than it sells in the Russian market. The data shows that Macedonian companies in the Russian market last year exported goods worth 57.1 million dollars, while they imported goods worth 176.3 million dollars in the domestic market. North Macedonia imports mostly energy, some raw materials and metals from Russia and exports mainly agri-food products.

In the opinion of North Macedonia, there are fears that sanctions against Russia will have consequences for air traffic in the country, and consequently for tourism. The government in Skopje has already announced that Russian planes will be banned from landing on the ground, which means that the only regular flight Skopje-Moscow has been closed. The Russian company “Nordvind Airlines”, which flies from Moscow airport to Skopje, last year brought 309 tourists who stayed close to 587 nights. This number is insignificant if we take into account the total number of tourists, which was 18,419, who spent 36,842 nights in North Macedonia. Almost three times more tourists than Russia in 2021, there were from Albania, who paid a total of 2,166 nights.

However, government analysis shows that the Russian-Ukrainian war will indirectly affect the domestic economy, given the energy crisis caused by this war.

“The crisis can have an indirect impact, especially in the field of energy because we are directly linked to over 70% of trade with the EU. “But we take all necessary measures on a daily basis to avoid price shocks,” said the Minister of Economy, Kreshnik Bekteshi.