Bitola is heading into an intense construction season - mayor Toni Konjanovski told the Council that around 80 projects are under way in the city, and the 2026 budget rebalance will back both ongoing and planned works. "The rebalance means support for realising all current and future projects and development plans for Bitola," he said.

The list of announced works is long and varied: a boxing hall, a new building for the fire service, kindergartens by the "Kliment Ohridski" school and by the barracks, entrance boulevards, car parks in the central area, water supply and sewage in rural areas, the reconstruction of schools and sports facilities, and even a "Bitola as a city of bicycles" initiative.

On paper, that is an ambitious season for any city. But Bitola, like every town in this region, has heard lists like this before - at the start of every season. The gap between an announced project and a finished one is exactly what a citizen judges by, not the number of bullet points in a single presentation to the Council.

That is why the real report won't be this speech, but the autumn - when we'll see how many of those 80 projects made it to the ribbon-cutting, and how many stayed at the level of an announcement. Until then, the people of Bitola will live among construction machines and promises, hoping that this time the list and reality will line up more than usual.