Macedonia advances critical mineral mining while cracking down on agricultural subsidy fraud

Professor Goran Nachevski, president of the Association of Metallurgists of Macedonia, urged the country to capitalize on its critical mineral deposits as Europe seeks secure sources. He highlighted recent upgrades to the proposed copper mine in Ilovica, adding stricter environmental safeguards and noting the project's potential to boost the state budget, create jobs and increase exports of copper, cadmium and nickel used in batteries and electric vehicles.

Agriculture Minister Borche Serafimovski disclosed widespread abuse of farm subsidies, citing impossible tobacco production claims and the illegal reuse of ear‑tags from dead livestock to claim livestock payments. He announced plans, together with the Food and Veterinary Agency, to introduce electronic ear‑tags readable by scanners and eventually GPS tracking to prevent future fraud.