16 April 2026 | Skopje | The Center for Civil Communications promoted today proposals for taking specific measures to prevent corruption in public procurement in the health sector, based on previously conducted research and analysis of the risks and generators of corruption in health tenders.
Macedonian public healthcare spends more than 300 million euros annually on public procurement, which are subject to numerous risks of abuse and irresponsible spending.
Representatives of key stakeholders discussed the proposed recommendations and their advancement to reduce the risks of corruption in order to spend public money more rationally and efficiently.
In his introductory speech, the Minister of Health, Azir Aliu, said that the ministry and the public administration should be seen as partners in the attempts to fully function the health system. He highlighted the digital transformation of the health system as one of the priority anti-corruption measures of the ministry.
The Assistant Chief State Auditor, Sonja Kambovska, presented the key weaknesses that the state audit identifies when conducting audits in healthcare institutions, as well as the appropriate recommendations.
As one of the key phases in procurement in which special emphasis should be placed, the Director of the Public Procurement Bureau, Mare Bogeva Micovska, highlighted the planning of procurements and in that regard pointed out the need for greater use of available data and the creation of centralized systems in healthcare, following the example of the Electronic Public Procurement System.
Representatives of the State Commission for the Prevention of Corruption, Sashko Kolev and Biljana Vrazhalska said that the country’s future anti-corruption strategy 2026-2030, which is in the final stage of preparation, envisages comprehensive measures to prevent corruption in public procurement as a horizontal area and in healthcare as one of the five sectors for which anti-corruption measures are envisaged.
The activities are organized within the framework of the project “Preventing Corruption in Public Procurement in Healthcare” which the Center for Civil Communications is implementing with financial support from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).