A month of celebration across 11 towns, and the price is still a secret: the organiser is a company with a frozen bank account

The celebration of 35 years of independence lasted a month, passed through 11 towns and ended with a concert by a world-famous DJ in a stadium - and so far nobody in the government has said what it cost.

The opposition SDSM is demanding an answer and putting forward its own estimate: David Guetta's appearance alone costs at least one million euros, and the total bill for all the activities, with stages, sound, security and supporting acts, could reach five million euros. Those are the party's estimates, not confirmed figures - but estimates the government could knock down in five minutes with a single document, if it wanted to.

Five freedom-of-information requests

Because of the lack of transparency, media outlets filed five requests for free access to public information. The questions are entirely concrete: what is the total amount spent on the caravan through 11 towns between 9 August and 8 September, broken down by event or with copies of the contracts; what does David Guetta's engagement cost, or a copy of his contract; was a tender issued to select an operator and for what amount; if a tender exists, where is the documentation, since it is not available on the Public Procurement Bureau's website; and how was Avalon chosen as the production company.

They have also asked for the fees to be separated out - how much went to the foreign performers led by Guetta and José Carreras, and how much to the Macedonian acts, who were far more numerous.

The company with the frozen account

Here comes the part that stands out most. According to SDSM, the company Avalon, announced as the organiser of the state event, has a frozen bank account and appears on the Public Revenue Office's list of debtors. The selection, the party claims, was made without a public call and without a tender.

If that is true, it is a bigger story than Guetta's fee. The state organised its central celebration through a company that owes money to the state itself, and did so without a procedure. If it is not true - there is a document proving the opposite, and publishing it would take one minute.

Silence is an answer, just not the one anyone wants

The organiser, according to the requests, is not answering journalists' questions about the cost. This is not a question of taste - whether anyone likes or dislikes David Guetta in a stadium is irrelevant. The question is whose budget is paying.

Public procurement has a procedure precisely so that it does not depend on an official's mood whether he says anything. When that procedure is absent and the questions go unanswered, only one conclusion remains, and every citizen will draw it for themselves. That conclusion costs more than any performance fee.