Every morning when overflowing bins greet the people of Skopje, the story looks like a local problem - a truck that never came, rubbish piling up. But the final report of the State Audit Office reveals that the problem is not in a single morning, but in the whole system. Of the 189 specialised municipal vehicles at the public utility „Komunalna Higiena - Skopje”, only 76 were roadworthy. The rest - 113 vehicles, or around 60 percent of the fleet - are broken down or written off.

The number says a lot on its own, but the context makes it heavier. The average age of the vehicles is 15 years. As much as 40 percent of the spare parts are outdated, some dating back to 2009. In other words, this is not a company that suddenly ran into trouble - it is a company that has been falling apart in front of everyone for years, while those in charge looked the other way.

Twelve million euros in debt

The financial picture is even darker. „Komunalna Higiena” carries obligations of nearly 12 million euros, reduced liquidity, and late payments to suppliers that come with penalties and the risk of frozen accounts. The auditors also found uncertain receivables of around 2 million euros, plus equipment worth about 472,000 euros that is not recorded at all - the property relations stem from a 1992 division with no proper documentation.

And when your own fleet does not work, the hole gets patched with outside labour: in 2024, 354 workers were hired through a private agency. So instead of investing in its own vehicles and its own staff, the money goes to temporarily patching a situation that has been worsening for years. It is a model that suits someone - but certainly not the resident of Skopje who pays a bill for a service they often do not receive.

The auditors recommend a comprehensive strategy to modernise the fleet, tailored to the workload and to the need for a 24-hours, seven-days-a-week service, as well as a permanent system for tracking technical fitness and costs. Recommendations that sound reasonable - but that are worth exactly as much as they get carried out.

The question that remains is not why the bins are full. The question is who will answer for a city company sinking into debt and broken trucks for years, while nobody pulled the alarm in time. The audit report is not the end of the story - it is merely the proof that the problem is known. What is missing is accountability, and no report can impose that on its own.