The Prilep-Bitola motorway is stuck - not because of bad terrain, not because of lack of money, but because of around ten property owners with illegally built villas and pools near Oreoec, who are refusing access to the needed quarry. This is the claim of Deputy Prime Minister and Transport Minister Aleksandar Nikoloski, and the damage to the state budget grows with every day lost.

The situation is simpler than it looks: to build a motorway, you need stone. For stone, you need quarry access. The owners of illegal structures nearby are blocking that access. The result - the state must buy materials from private quarries at higher prices with expensive transport costs. Nikoloski's estimate puts potential damage at €100 million.

"We have only one obstacle. It is about ten owners of illegally built villas and estates with pools in the Prilep area", Nikoloski stated. Behind the blockade, he suggests, there may be "unclear agendas" - business, political, or a combination.

The obvious question: why do the illegal buildings still stand? If they are illegal, the demolition procedure is clear. If the state can invest billions in infrastructure, can it not also enforce basic inspections? Or do these "tycoons" know their estates are more untouchable than a motorway route?

While the answers wait, the motorway waits too - and with it, the passengers, the freight industry, and the economy of the entire region.