The PM's brother-in-law, Mihailova's escape, pricier flats in Skopje, Grubi welcomed with flares

The prime minister's brother-in-law and a lunch for 250 guests

Levica leader Dimitar Apasiev stepped up to the parliamentary podium holding a photograph of Hristijan Mickoski standing next to his brother-in-law Jordancho Janev - Dano. According to Apasiev, Janev is linked to at least six companies, four in Macedonia and two in Bulgaria, and some of them were founded after the change of government in 2024. The most concrete accusation concerns Strumica: the municipality's first tender under the new mayor, a ceremonial lunch for 250 guests, allegedly went to a company linked to Janev, who was at the same time godfather and patron of the celebration. Apasiev also cited around 20,000 euros in donations from Janev to VMRO-DPMNE since 2019.

Mickoski did not deny the family tie. He said Janev has run his own business for more than 25 years and that there is nothing illegal about owning companies, then challenged Apasiev to repeat all of it without parliamentary immunity, "so we can see each other in court". The threat of a lawsuit is an answer to Apasiev, not to the tender. Which of the responsible institutions will open the paperwork on the Strumica lunch?

Iva Mihailova: both passports confiscated, and she left anyway

Iva Mihailova is charged over a traffic accident in which one person died and three were injured. The court in Kochani ordered 30 days of detention, the interior ministry issued a warrant, and both her passports, Macedonian and Bulgarian, had been confiscated precisely so she could not leave the country. She left anyway, and the ministry still doesn't know how - there is no record of a legal exit from Macedonia, nor of a legal entry into Bulgaria.

Sofia replied with Article 25 of its Constitution, under which a Bulgarian citizen is extradited only if a ratified international treaty provides for it, and pointed out that there is no Interpol red notice so far. The justice ministry, meanwhile, is waiting for the interior ministry to locate her before it can even start extradition proceedings. The circle is closed: Skopje waits for Sofia to find her, Sofia says it isn't looking. The ministry's internal control unit is examining the case. The question that remains is which border she crossed - and with whose help.

Bitola: the prosecution office goes to the man who nominated Vezirovski

The Council of Public Prosecutors appointed Antonio Jolevski acting higher public prosecutor in Bitola, replacing Peco Vezirovski. On 7 October the organised crime and corruption prosecution opened proceedings against Vezirovski for accepting a reward for unlawful influence, and he is suspected of influencing prosecutors and judges in at least four cases. A court has barred him from doing his job. His seat now goes to the man who, in 2022, nominated him for that very post. The change has been made on paper. Whether it is real will be shown by the cases in which Vezirovski allegedly interfered.

Grubi leaves house arrest to a welcome of flares

Former first deputy prime minister Artan Grubi, out of reach of the Macedonian justice system for more than 14 months, walked out of house arrest on Tuesday evening and was greeted in Skopje's Čair by flares, smoke bombs and fireworks. The next day his lawyers apologised to the public for the "spontaneous" gathering. Spontaneous, then - but with the pyrotechnics ready.

The court lifted the measure because the legal limit of 60 days after the indictment was filed had expired, not because the charges collapsed. Grubi is the second defendant in the "State Lottery" case, in which, according to the indictment, the state company suffered damage of around 9.7 million euros. His passport has not been returned, he may not leave his residence, and the trial, which began on 24 August, goes on.

The interior ministry: a new version on Saraj, praise from the FBI, a parking scam in Tetovo

A week ago two young men said they had been brutally mistreated by police in Saraj, and the interior ministry suspended six officers over "a series of irregularities". Now the ministry has come out with a completely different picture: a stakeout over marijuana, a passenger who allegedly grabbed an officer's pistol, a chase and an overturned BMW - and criminal complaints against the young men themselves. The two stories don't cancel each other out. If the gun really was taken, that is a serious crime. But it gives no officer the right to beat people who are already in police hands, and the internal control unit is still examining "possible irregularities".

The FBI, meanwhile, praised Macedonian police for arresting a 20-year-old from Golema Rechica, whom the ministry says ran the illegal online market "OLVX", where more than 1,500 stolen access credentials were offered. The praise is deserved, but the investigation started with information that came from the FBI. In Tetovo, a 22-year-old from Mala Rechica was arrested for parking for free through a computer scam - for how long and for how much, the ministry won't say.

Prices: flats, winter preserves and tourists who don't stay

The National Bank presents it as good news that annual growth in Skopje flat prices slowed to 10.3% in the third quarter. In other words, flats keep getting more expensive, just slightly more slowly. From 1 December the maximum term for a loan on a second or any further flat drops from 30 to 25 years, while first-home buyers keep the 10% down payment. The numbers for a 100,000-euro flat show that the smaller down payment means 15,000 euros less up front, but roughly 7,800 euros more in interest.

Winter preserves have their own arithmetic. Farmers sell ajvar peppers for as little as 15 denars a kilo, while in some supermarkets they reach around 100 denars - more than six times dearer from field to shelf. Farmers barely cover their costs, shoppers count every jar. Who pockets the difference?

Tourism looks good at first glance: 244,513 tourists in August, with foreigners making up 53.6% of guests. But 70.8% of overnight stays belong to domestic guests. Foreigners mostly pass through, they don't stay.

Skopje and the municipalities: heating, Vodno and debts

The heating season in Skopje started two days early, and so did the breakdowns. The district heating company blames the outages on "increased water losses in the network", and the police station in Prolet, the Museum of Macedonia, the National Conservation Centre and a primary school are still without heat. Heating bills are 5.96% higher on average. How much of that loss are we already paying for?

For Barutana on Vodno, the draft plan has already collected positive opinions from the institutions, while the study that is supposed to say whether the slope is even stable has yet to be commissioned. Centar mayor Goran Gerasimovski promised the plan won't go before the council without it. So why does it come last?

Bitola and Karposh announced subsidies for chimneys and filters on a "first come, first served" basis, without a single figure on how much money is in the pot. Probishtip has repaid more than 50 million denars of its debt, but how much it still owes - the mayor didn't say.

The region and the world

From 1 November Russians will no longer enter Montenegro on a passport alone, and Moscow immediately answered with visas for Montenegrins. Belgrade sent Croatia a protest note over 6,282 media mentions of Vučić, while a former SNS activist claims the party paid people 200 euros a day to stay in Ćacilend, with cash from a public company. How often does an insider describe the party machinery of the Balkans like this?

Trump signed the law on sanctions against Russia and is now looking for a way out: the White House may quietly bypass the measures before 18 October. Moscow claims it downed 146 drones in a single night, while Starlink put the brakes on Ukraine's medium-range drones. In Iran, a 23-year-old student has been sentenced to death over a post on social media.

Sport: Vardar out of the group stage

Vardar 1961 dropped out of the Champions League race after a 33:32 defeat in Płock - a second one-goal loss in the group, after 32:33 against Nantes in Skopje. When it happens twice, one goal stops being bad luck. In Belgrade, meanwhile, Obradović returned with Panathinaikos and beat Partizan 72:55, in front of stands that celebrated him.

The heavier part of the day follows one pattern: the question is clear, and the answer is about something else. Asked about the Strumica tender, the prime minister answers with the threat of a lawsuit, the interior ministry offers a new version of Saraj a week later, and Sofia, instead of an answer on Mihailova, quotes its Constitution. The questions remain open.