Gazi Baba advisor alleges 23.5 million euro budget loss via urban plan

Aleksandar Veljanovski, an advisor in the Gazi Baba Municipality, has raised alarms regarding a potential loss of 23.5 million euros for the municipal and Skopje city budgets. The concern stems from a draft Detailed Urban Plan (DUP) for the 'East Gate' area, which designates approximately 141,000 square meters for 'B5' purpose, specifically hotel complexes containing between 3,000 and 3,500 rooms.

Veljanovski alleges that this designation may be a tactic to bypass regulations and reduce costs. He claims that if the area were designated for residential apartments, the budget would receive approximately 25 million euros in utility fees. However, under the hotel designation, the investor would legally pay only about 5% of that amount, totaling just over 1.2 million euros.

Furthermore, the advisor questioned whether the plan is a way to facilitate the construction of residential buildings under the guise of hotels to save on parking requirements. He also warned of legal complications for future residents, noting that if buildings are officially registered as hotels, owners might face administrative hurdles when attempting to register their official residence at those addresses.