Skopje to Undertake Massive Prison Renovations

A loan from the Council of Europe’s Development Bank will support the project with €46 million, while the state budget will cover the rest, the minister told reporters.

“This government has identified the needs and decided to invest a substantial sum in constructing, renovating and refurbishing the prisons in our country. The government initiative stands in contrast to previous governments which did nothing to improve the situation,” Manevski said.

He claimed that the revamp would greatly improve the living conditions of the inmates and satisfy European Union standards.

The prison system in Macedonia has been regarded by the European Union as one of the worst on the continent. With overcrowded and short-staffed prisons built long ago, Skopje has received yearly warnings from the EU about the state of the country's penitentiary institutions.

Manevski said that the government had already hired some 300 new prison guards and other staff and would continue to do so until needs were met.