The Reform Agenda for the Republic of North Macedonia sets out a package of reforms for governing public enterprises and state-owned companies, including a new law, strategy, and registry. Under the agenda’s planned sequencing, these measures are to precede the restructuring of the postal and railway sectors. The law and strategy are expected to address the selection of management and oversight boards, the publication of financial reports, risk management, and the establishment of key performance indicators.
The Institute for Democracy “Societas Civilis” (IDSCS) was invited by the Ministry of Economy and Labour (MEL) in October 2025 to join the working group drafting the law and strategy on public enterprises and state-owned or partly state-owned companies of the Republic of North Macedonia. A draft law was published on ENER in January 2026, and, after several versions circulated within the working group, an amended text was shared with the working group on 23 June 2026, one that MEL described as agreed with the European Commission. This version was never substantively discussed within the working group. The law was adopted by the Assembly under a shortened procedure on 30 June 2026, without adequate public debate. Most of the positions set out in this document were also raised and advocated by us within the working group.
The law introduces financial and non-financial targets, greater financial transparency, and stronger internal control and audit for public enterprises and state-owned or partly state-owned companies. It also requires a detailed, public record of state-owned public enterprises and companies, including minority stakes — a welcome and substantial improvement.
The law also introduces a new instrument, the ownership rights policy, drawing on the OECD Guidelines on Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises. These standards recommend that the owner state adopt and publish an ownership policy and periodically reassess the justification for each holding. Under the law, the state must justify each ownership or stake by invoking at least one of the ownership and participation criteria: managing goods of general interest; managing infrastructure and distribution networks where the physical infrastructure constitutes a natural monopoly; business activity involving the provision of public services; impact on the state budget; market activities that contribute to economic stability and development; or other activities of public interest. Where the state cannot justify an ownership or stake, it must exit the ownership structure or the participation in those legal entities — that is, divest. The law requires the state to review its ownership rights policies at least every four years. Similar approaches, also linked to the Reform Agenda for the Western Balkans, appear in newly adopted laws of other EU candidate countries. The observations below, however, show that the law does not provide sufficient institutional safeguards against the abuse documented in North Macedonia’s own experience with ownership transformation — while also calling into question the case for divestment where it rests on arguments such as unprofitability or poor management alone.
Read more in the document:
Commentary on the Law on Public Enterprises and State-Owned or Partly State-Owned Companies of the Republic of North Macedonia
This public policy document is part of the project “Promoting the Debate on Accountability and AntiCorruption”, which aims to contribute to the reform processes in North Macedonia by strengthening the role of the Assembly in the fight against corruption and in establishing reforms in the rule of law. In doing so, it facilitates dialogue between political parties and youth, as well as between parliamentarians and civil society. The project is supported by the National Endowment for Democracy.
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