Song titled "Macedonia" to mark 20th independence anniversary

A song entitled "Macedonia", written by composer Kire Kostov and author Miodrag Vrcakovski, is the ceremonial song which will mark the 20th anniversary of Macedonia's independence.

The song was selected out of 13 compositions, which have been submitted at an open competition published on July 27 in "Vecer" daily newspaper. The selected composition will be performed at a general celebration on September 8 organised by the Government of Macedonia, the Ministry of Culture says.

The jury made up of Stojan Stojkov (composer), Zivoin Glisic (composer), Gordana Josifova-Nedelkovska (performing artist), Sasa Nikolovski-Gjumar (conductor), Vanco Dimitrov (music editor), Mihail Rendzov (poet), Gjorgi Barbarovski (poet and journalist), Saso Tatarcevski (conductor) and Jeta Starova (performing artist) have reached an unanimous decision upon listening to all of the submitted songs.

Skopje Becoming a Tourist Mecca

Last year most foreign tourists visited Ohrid, but this year most of them went to the capital, Skopje. Of total 55,323 tourists in June, nearly one half spent their vacations in Skopje, whereas the rest decided on spa resorts and other tourist destinations. 

Tourist season in Macedonia started with a quarter more foreign tourists than last year. According to the data of the Macedonian State Statistical Office, in June 25% percent more foreigners visited Macedonia compared to the same month last year.

Most tourists came from Turkey, Greece, the UK and the Netherlands. However, foreign guests spend on average 2.8 nights in Skopje before moving on to other Macedonian locations.

Bananas Growing in Macedonia

The first Macedonian bananas grew ripe on the plantation of Dimce Mladenovski from Crniliste. Bananas found their way to Macedonian soil by accident. A friend of Mladenovski gave him a seedling as a gift a few years ago.
At first, he was very sceptical about planting bananas because Macedonian winters can be very cold.
It takes three years until the first harvest and seedlings need a lot of attention, especially during the winter, Mladenovski explains. He thinks that bananas can grow in Macedonia now because of the climate change.

Skopje Marathon Added to 2012 Race Calendar

The global running events listing service, Race-Calendar.com today announced the publication of another race in it's online event listing services, with the addition of the 2012 Skopje Marathon.
The race, which has no limit to enter, costs just €6.50 to enter, will see runners compete in either a full 26.2 mile marathon, a 13.1 mile half marathon, or a 5 kilometer race.
The 2012 Skopje Marathon takes place on the 6th May 2012, in the center of the city of Skopje, in Macedonia, Europe. The full marathon will start at 9am.

Macedonia marks 108. Ilinden Uprising, 67. ASNOM anniversaries

The two historic Ilinden days - 108 years of the Ilinden Uprising and 67 years of the first Anti-Fascist Assembly for the People's Liberation of Macedonia (ASNOM) - will be marked Tuesday at Meckin Kamen in Krusevo and memorial complex in Kumanovo village Pelince.
Parliament Speaker Trajko Veljanoski will attend the main event in Krusevo, Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski will address the gathering at the ASNOM Memorial Center in Pelince, whereas President Gjorge Ivanov will lay flowers at the monument of ASNOM President Metodija Andonov-Cento in Skopje.
Macedonia will not send a delegation to the authentic place of the second Ilinden - monastery "St.Prohor Pcinski", which is under jurisdiction of the Serbian Orthodox Church.Bitola village Trnovo will host the 40. World Macedonian Emigrant Meeting, organized by the Macedonian Emigrant Association and the World Macedonian Congress.
Horsemen, who traditionally depart for the annual Ilinden March from Skopje, are also set to arrive in Krusevo.
Church bells marked the beginning of the Krusevo uprising on the eve of Ilinden in 1903. About 800 rebels liberated the town, whereas the Krusevo Republic was declared two days later by Nikola Karev, who was elected president.The free republic lasted for ten days. Under the command of Bahtijar Pasha, a 18,000-strong Ottoman army attacked Krusevo in order to restore authority. The last gunshots at Meckin Kamen and the killing of voivode Pitu Guli signalled the end of the Krusevo Republic.
Forty-one years later, 115 delegates held the first Anti-Fascist Assembly for the People's Liberation of Macedonia (ASNOM) in monastery St.Prohor Pcinski near Kumanovo, confirming Macedonia's social-legal position as an equal federal unit within Yugoslavia. The oldest delegate and witness of both Ilindens Panko Brasnarov opened the assembly, whereas Metodija Andonov-Cento was elected ASNOM President.
The assembly adopted several statehood documents, including the decision on introducing the Macedonian language as the official language in the country, along with the Declaration on the fundamental rights of the man and citizen of democratic Macedonia.

New Ilinden - Kalugerac highway opened

Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski opened Saturday the reconstructed 19-km-long road section Ilinden-Kalugerac, which will improve the road inter-connection of the residents of Skopje settlements Kisela Voda, Ilinden and Sopiste.
The EUR2,3 million-project is part of the government's program for reconstruction of regional and local roads.
"The new government's program 2011-2015 attaches special attention to investing in new and reconstruction of a great number of existing roads, including Demir Kapija - Smokvica, Veles - Skopje, Skopje - Stip, Kumanovo - Kriva Palanka, Gostivar - Ohrid..., Gruevski said.State Road Agency Director Natasa Valkanovska said the project encompassed a reconstruction of 370 km of regional roads throughout Macedonia. The reconstruction of a total of 300 km has been already completed, she sad.Valkanovska also announced that in the next few months the agency would start preparing about 40 new projects for road construction and reconstruction, as well as for repairing the road signalization system across the country.

Macedonia slow in attracting Foreign Investments

According to foreign direct investment influx last year, Macedonia took the penultimate place among regional countries, reads the latest report of the United Nations.With USD 293 million worth investments, Macedonia ranks better than Bosnia and Herzegovina, which reported USD 63 million worth foreign direct investments. Last year, Serbia ranked first with USD 1.3 billion, which is three times less than in 2006, when the country recorded record-breaking USD 4.2 billion. Albania followed with USD 1.970,000,000, Slovenia with USD 834 million and Croatia with only USD 583 million, compared to USD 6 billion in 2008.