Macedonia: Building Begins On Four Tall Towers In Skopje

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By Sinisa Jakov Marusic

Construction of four 42-storey skyscrapers, set to be the tallest buildings in Macedonia, started on Monday in Skopje.

The Turkish company, Cevahir Holding, plans to invest some 300 million euro in the project that should be completed within three years in the Skopje municipality of Aerodrom.

The complex will hold a mix of residential, business and retail areas, with some 1,400 flats providing homes for 5,000 people, and a large shopping mall in the base of the towers.

“We managed to persuade the company to invest thanks to our low taxes, favourable construction land price and simple administrative procedures,” Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, who attended the ground-breaking ceremony, said.

At a time of financial crisis, it is expected to be the largest single foreign investment in the country this year.

Authorities hope it will keep the flagship construction industry going, as demand for work abroad tails off.

“This complex will contribute to the modernization of Skopje and Macedonia and to the country’s development in times of global crisis,” the Turkish Ambassador, Gurol Sokmensuer, said.

The government hopes that the new buildings will help lower the price of housing in the capital by increasing the amount on offer.

Despite the crisis, real estate prices in Skopje have remained comparatively expensive at around 1,000 euro per square meter.

Standing 130 metres high each, the towers will be the tallest in the country, topping the 25-floor, 90-metre high building of Macedonian Radio Television, which dominates the skyline in central Skopje.

Cevahir Holding is one of Turkey’s biggest companies. Its main fields of activity include investment, tourism and construction.

Although political ties have long been good, it was only in the last few years that Turkish companies have significantly invested in Macedonia.

In 2010, Turkey’s TAV won a 20-year contract to run Macedonia’s two airports in Skopje and in Ohrid and invested over 100 million euro in improving airport infrastructure.

Earlier this year, the Turkish firm Limak holding purchased a large construction site in central Skopje, planned for business and commercial buildings.

As part of the contract, the company is obliged to build a kilometre-long boulevard underpass in the city’s central area.

Balkan Insight

The Balkan Insight (formerly the Balkin Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN) is a close group of editors and trainers that enables journalists in the region to produce in-depth analytical and investigative journalism on complex political, economic and social themes. BIRN emerged from the Balkan programme of the Institute for War & Peace Reporting, IWPR, in 2005. The original IWPR Balkans team was mandated to localise that programme and make it sustainable, in light of changing realities in the region and the maturity of the IWPR intervention. Since then, its work in publishing, media training and public debate activities has become synonymous with quality, reliability and impartiality. A fully-independent and local network, it is now developing as an efficient and self-sustainable regional institution to enhance the capacity for journalism that pushes for public debate on European-oriented political and economic reform.

3 thoughts on “Macedonia: Building Begins On Four Tall Towers In Skopje

  • July 18, 2012 at 6:09 am
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    The towers will be nearly as tall as Gruevski’s Alexander statue and keep well with Skopjia’s fun park theme.

    At least the Slavs of Skopjia used a Turkish developer. The developer will be visiting many of the indigenous people of FYROM. He has said that he hopes that Albanian human rights are respected in FYROM and especially since the indigenous Albanians have been Turkey’s junior partners in the Balkans.

    Turkey has always warned that if the Slav nationalists ever attacked the indigenous Albanians, Turkey would unleash hell on the skopjian leaders.

    These towers are again Gruevski’s way of appeasing the Skopjian elite and thus assuring strong support for his party.

    Reply
  • July 18, 2012 at 10:29 am
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    what rubbish comments!!
    Pathetic, grow up! You have no idea what you are talking about

    Human rights are respected much more in MACEDONIA than in some other countires in the region.

    Differnt ethnic groups are recognised unlike again some other countries in the region. Oh thats right, I forgot that Greece is 98% pure Greek, silly me….

    Reply
  • July 20, 2012 at 10:56 am
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    Yes Mr. Steve human rights are respected in other countries but not always in FYROM with this Skopjian govwernment.

    It is always patheitic to hear the truth Mr. Steve, but thats right what would you know you are one of the Slavic brethren who runs the place.

    The Indigenous people of FYROM who are descended from the ancient Illyrians and have lived here for the lat 3000 years will one day in the near future be the majority again before your Bulgarian ancestors came here in 900AD.

    Back then when the Bulgarians settled with the indigenous Albanians they were not to primitive and adopted much of our culture, food and clothing.

    Now the Slavic government has become very nationalistic and the indigenous Albanians are caught in the middle of this between the Slavs and Greeks.

    Human rights are not a commodity they are for all. And both the Skopjian government with its Slavic leaders and the indigenous Albanians can live together if the Slavs respect human rights.

    Reply

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