Tag: Macedonia

BIRN Regional Board Meeting Held in Skopje

Directors, board members, partners and donors of the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN, met in the Macedonian capital Skopje on June 18-20 for the network’s latest regional Board meeting.

Attendees convened for the three-day meeting, held every 18 months, to highlight BIRN’s recent achievements, review its internal policy and discuss its future role in the region.

BIRN’s Steering Board also met to review internal policy, current training plans, anticorruption policy, obstacles faced by individual country, and a potential change in financial software.

A number of new policies were agreed upon and voted into effect by the BIRN Assembly.

During the meeting, BIRN directors also led special presentations on key topics currently affecting the political and media landscape in the Western Balkans, which included press freedom and the rule of law.

BIRN Regional Network Director Gordana Igric said that in the current regional political landscape “organisations such as BIRN working on promoting responsible journalism are more important than ever.”

The regional Board meeting was attended by Board members Stefan Lehne, visiting scholar at Carnegie Europe, Per Byman, Secretary-General of Radiohjälpen, Wolfgang Petritsch, Chair, Board of the European Cultural Foundation, Steve Crawshaw, Secretary General of Amnesty International, and Ana Petruseva, BIRN Maceodnia director.

Some of BIRN’s long-term donors, such as representatives from ERSTE Foundation, as well as ambassadors and representatives from Swedish, Norwegian and UK embassies, also attended the meeting.

Alongside Igric, BIRN’s regional country directors, including Mirna Buljugic from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Jeta Xharra from Kosovo, Kristina Voko from Albania, Dragana Zarkovic Obradovic from Serbia and Marian Chiriac from Romania, attended the event as well.

On Monday, 20 June, Igric, Lehne, and Petritsch, hosted a public panel on the ‘EU Prospects for the Region’, moderated by BIRN Macedonia Director Ana Petruseva.

BIRN Wins Seven Prestigous Awards in May

BIRN’s investigative journalists and teams in Macedonia, Serbia, Albania and Kosovo have been given seven different awards in the course of one month for the quality of their reporting.

The most recent BIRN journalist to receive an award in May for his work was Boris Georgievski, author of the series of investigations called ‘Dossier Telecom’, produced for BIRN Macedonia online publication Prizma, who won the first prize in the European Union awards for investigative journalism for 2015.

The BIRN Macedonia team also won the second prize for its investigation and database, ‘Skopje 2014 Uncovered’.

BIRN Serbia journalist Aleksandar Djordjevic win first prize in the EU awards for investigative journalism in Serbia for his report entitled ‘Pumping Out the Pit and the Budget’ which was named the best investigative story in 2015.

Third prize went to Ivan Angelovski, Jelena Cosic, Petrit Colaku and Kreshnik Gashi for a story revealing how a multi-million-dollar road construction contract was quietly handed to a consortium with little highway-building experience and linked to controversial Serbian businessman Zvonko Veselinovic.

The story was produced as part of the ‘A Paper Trail for Better Governance’ programme, which is funded by Austrian Development Agency.

BIRN’s Albania investigation Albania’s Judges Wealth Escapes Scrutiny, by journalist Leonard Bakillari, meanwhile won the first prize in the EU Investigative Journalism Awards 2015 for Albania

BIRN’s film The Unidentified, investigating the commanders responsible for brutal attacks during the Kosovo war, was given the best short documentary award at the South East European Film Festival in Los Angeles. 

And finally, BIRN Serbia journalist Aleksandar Dordjevic scooped one more first prize for the best investigative journalism story in Serbia’s print media.

The award was given by the Independent Journalists Association of Serbia, NUNS, and the US Embassy to Belgrade. The investigation, produced by BIRN Serbia and published in the magazine Vreme, revealed how the Belgrade Business School, under pressure from government officials, unlawfully lent seven million euros to heavily indebted companies that were unlikely to repay the money. 

BIRN Macedonia Wins EU Investigative Awards

A series of articles by Boris Georgievski won the prize for best investigation of 2015, while second prize went to BIRN’s database, ‘Skopje 2014 uncovered’.

Journalist Boris Georgievski, author of the series of investigations called “Dossier Telecom”, produced for BIRN Macedonia online publication Prizma, won the first prize of the European Union for investigative journalism for 2015.

The BIRN team also won the second prize for its investigation and database, “Skopje 2014 Uncovered”.

The third prize, for young investigative journalist, went to Telma journalist Biljana Nikolovski.

“Dossier Telecom” analysed the voluminous evidence files from the New York Court case conducted against former leading figures in Magyar Telekom, accused of bribing government officials in Macedonia.

The research shed new light on the privatization of Macedonian Telecommunications and on the events that preceded it.

“Skopje 2014 Uncovered” contains extensive research that provides new insight into the public money spent on controversially changing the appearance of the Macedonian capital.

The basis of the research is an interactive online database, “Skopje 2014 Uncovered”, which contains all the sums, contracts, suppliers, names of companies and authors as well as investors from the project, and determines the final total cost of the project.

The Skopje 2014 Uncovered database is available in Macedonian and English, and in addition to the summarized data, enables easy cross-analysis of the data by users seeking in-depth information on public money spent on the project.

“Skopje 2014 Uncovered” this year also received the prestigious “Nikola Mladenov” award for investigative journalism.

BIRN Macedonia Lifts Lid on Farm Subsidies

 

Following the Skopje 2014 Uncovered database, BIRN Macedonia is promoting a second database, on how much the government spends on agricultural subsidies and who gets them.

 

The Balkan Investigative Reporters Network Macedonia has launched a database on government agricultural subsidies from 2010 to 2014.

According to BIRN, over four years, the country has spent 150 million euros on subsidies for livestock and 296 million for crop production, making a total of 446 million.

The data come from official documents obtained from the Agency for support of agriculture and rural development, referring to direct payments for plant and livestock production.

The data reveal that most of the money, or 83 percent of the total budget, was allocated in subsidies for individuals – over 370 million in the period from 2010 to 2014.

The participation rate of companies in the budget for subsidies is 17 per cent, about 75.7 million euros.

The database records 2,480 companies that benefited from grants from 2010 to 2014 and 53 measures for subsidies.

“Pelagonija”, “Povardarie” Winery, JSC “Varda” and, surprisingly, the Ministry of Agriculture, were the top four legal entities in terms of receiving most subsidies.

“Asked why they were on the list of legal entities taking subsidies, the Ministry of Agriculture responded that it was a settling of debts to farmers. Most of the subsidies were paid during the elections, and it is interesting that companies that receive major subsidies also have accounts abroad,” Aleksandar Dimitrievski, the author of the study, said.

Agricultural Engineering Professor Jovan Azhderski, who attended the promotion, said the effect of the subsidies had been almost nonexistent, although he added that it might take time to see the difference.

“From 2006 to now we should have seen some serious benefits… in improved quality, cost, technological processes for production, but we do not eat cheaper food yet and it is questionable if the quality has improved,” Azhderski said.

He also stressed that people with the same name and surname appear in the database several times.

However, there is not enough data to determine whether they are the same people, since the ID numbers of individual beneficiaries are classified data.

The database is available at the following link: www.subvencii.prizma.mk

BIRN Macedonia Wins Investigative Reporting Award

BIRN Macedonia was awarded the prestigious “Nikola Mladenov” award for investigative reporting for the “Skopje 2014 Uncovered” database and series of investigative reports about the grand revamp of the capital.

“Considering its scope,’Skopje Uncovered’ is a groundbreaking endeavour in investigative journalism in Macedonia. BIRN’s team has demonstrated an exquisite capacity for research, analysis and organising huge volume of data,” said Biljana Petkovska, director of the Macedonian Institute for Media, when she announced the first prize for BIRN.

“This award is recognition for teamwork – an incentive and a promise that you will see many more BIRN investigations,” said Meri Jordanovska, BIRN reporter at the awards ceremony in Skopje on Thursday. 

The eight-month investigation draws on data procured through the Access to Public Information Act, the official web page of the Public Procurement Bureau, the “Skopje 2014” audit and other reports by the government.

When the grand revamp of the Macedonian capital was first announced back in 2010, the project, known as “Skopje 2014”, envisaged the construction of some 40 monuments, sculptures, facades and new buildings. Fast forward to 2015 and the number of buildings and monuments has tripled.

The price tag of Skopje’s new look has meanwhile also shot up, far surpassing the initially announced figure of €80 million, to around €634 million, BIRN’s investigation shows.

The “Skopje 2014 Uncovered” database documents and maps works built or under construction with the official contracts, authors’ fees, annexes and statistics on most contracted builders, sculptors, architects and foundries that participated in the project.

The second prize went to journalist Biljana Nikolovska from Telma TV for her documentary on a little girl who died while waiting for funds for surgery. The third prize was divided between team of NOVA TV website for their series on Telecom affair and SCOOP journalist Xhelal Neziri for an investigation on pollution.

Another investigation published on BIRN’s website Prizma by Aneta Dodevska on foreign investments received special mention by the jury.

The Macedonian Institute for Media first established the prize in 2001 to support investigative journalism in the country. Three years ago this award was named after Nikola Mladenov, a veteran editor and owner of Fokus weekly who died in a tragic car accident.

BIRN Bolsters Social Media Expertise

Communication officers from across the BIRN Network gathered in Serbia’s capital on February 23-24 for an intensive training session focused on social media.

BIRN Hub organised the two-day training programme for its six communications officers as part of its focus on staff capacity building, as well as improving the overall output of BIRN’s publications for its international audiences.

Developments in social media and technology were on the agenda, alongside ways to maximize the use of advertising tools, audience targeting strategies, community building and improving the overall digital experience for BIRN’s audiences.

The training was also an opportunity for the country-specific communications officers to share information and experiences face-to-face, rather than via online portals as is common in a Network spanning multiple countries.

Attendees were also able to discuss the Network’s future growth and how they plan to adapt their social media and digital strategies for the future.

BIRN Hub, as a secretariat of the Network, is tasked with offering assistance to its members, including by developing editorial, digital and other relevant skills. The Network has identified a need to support its members by building their capacities and management skills in order to ensure long-term sustainability.

As part of its investment in social media skill development, BIRN Hub will be organising monthly training sessions for its communication officers, aimed at fostering a cohesive approach across all five regions in the Network – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia and Serbia.

 

BIRN Macedonia Launches Tenth Call for Investigative Reports

BIRN Macedonia, together with the Centre for Civil Communications, launched the tenth call for investigative stories on February 29th.

The call is part of the ‘Project for Investigative Journalism and Cooperation Between Media and Civil Society’, and is part of a USAID programme for strengthening independent media in Macedonia.

Selected journalists will be awarded a grant covering their expenses during the investigation and writing phases of their stories. This call ends on October 28th.

Journalists will have approximately three months to dig deeper and research investigative story ideas. Grantees will be mentored by experienced editors who will guide them through the process of writing investigative stories according to BIRN standards.

Topics for investigations include: health; cultural policy; education and youth; human rights; EU integration; good governance; inter-ethnic relations; environment issues; marginalised groups; quality of life.

The call only applies to journalists from Macedonia.

The final call for investigative reports within this project will be launched at the end of 2016.

Click for more information about the application procedure, with details in Macedonian. 

BIRN Macedonia Issues Another Call for an Investigative Story: Domestic and Other Forms of Violence Against Women

Following a workshop on Domestic and Other Forms of Violence in December 2015, held as part of an integrated awareness campaign, BIRN is pleased to announce its call for an investigative story on the same subject.

BIRN urges interested journalists to submit their applications, biographies and other required documentation by no later than February 2, 2016. The final draft of the story is to be submitted two months after the successful candidate is notified of the award.

The selected journalist will receive $500 in monetary value and will be offered mentorship and editorial support from BIRN staff members.

All journalists in Macedonia are eligible to submit applications for this call, only one of whom will be selected to develop the story.

This call is published in cooperation with the missions of the United Nations and the European Union in Macedonia.

BIRN remains committed to highest standards of journalistic endeavours, and grants for other topics and specific fields will follow in the coming months. 

“Skopje 2014 Uncovered” Gets Mobile App

BIRN Macedonia has developed an interactive app for Android devices called “Skopje 2014 Uncovered” that allows users to know the cost of buildings and monuments that form part of the government sponsored revamp of the capital.

BIRN’s new app lists all the edifices that are included in the BIRN’s official database of buildings, new facades, sculptures, monuments, fountains and other structures which are components of Skopje’s publicly funded makeover.

Through photographing a specific structure, users can now get its exact cost. By photographing with a wider span, users can find out the cost of each structure in the picture or get the total sum.

To obtain more information, the app “Skopje 2014 Uncovered” also allows connection to BIRN’s database with the same name.

Photographs made through the app can be shared through social networks or sent via messages with one click.

The app is available on Google Play.

BIRN Macedonia Launches Ninth Call for Investigative Reports

BIRN Macedonia, together with the Centre for Civil Communications launched the ninth call for investigative stories on October 14th.

The call is part of the ‘Project for Investigative Journalism and Cooperation Between Media and Civil Society’, part of a USAID programme for strengthening independent media in Macedonia.

In this call that closes on October 28th, selected journalists will be awarded a grant to cover their expenses while doing the investigation and writing the story.

Journalists will have about three months to dig deeper and research their ideas, but also will have the opportunity to work with experienced editors as their mentors to guide them through the process of writing to BIRN standards.

Topics for investigations include: health; cultural policy; education and youth; human rights; EU integration; good governance; inter-ethnic relations; environment issues; marginalised groups; quality of life.

The call only applies to journalists from Macedonia. More calls for investigative grants will follow.

Click for more information about the application procedure, with details in Macedonian.