While European countries have been investing billions for years in modernising their electricity distribution networks, Macedonia enters 2025 with distribution losses of as much as 12.90 percent - a number that places the country among the worst in the Balkans, and easily the worst among the former Yugoslav republics.

Data from the annual report of the Energy Regulatory Commission shows that the situation is not only not improving, but losses on the EVN network have actually grown by another 2.17 percent compared to 2024.

By comparison with the neighbours:

• Slovenia has losses of around 4-5%,
• Croatia 7-8%,
• Serbia 11-12%,
• Montenegro around 12%,
• while Macedonia comes in at 12.90%.

That means Macedonia today has worse distribution efficiency than even parts of much larger and more complex systems in the region.

What is particularly worrying is that Macedonia is:

• a small country,
• with a relatively short network,
• and a concentrated population,

which under normal conditions ought to mean lower, not higher, losses.

The Energy Regulatory Commission itself indirectly admits that the problem is serious, listing as needs:

• additional investment,
• network modernisation,
• and measures against unauthorised use of electricity.

In practice that means a huge share of the electricity:

• is lost due to old infrastructure,
• technical faults,
• theft,
• illegal connections,
• or inefficient management of the system.

And the citizens, in the end, pay the price on their electricity bills.

While the European average for distribution losses usually sits between 4 and 8 percent, Macedonia is almost double those standards.

The question that remains: if EVN has been running the distribution network for years, how much has actually been invested to make the system modern and efficient, and why does Macedonia stay at the bottom of the region?

Data is from: Annual report on the work of the Energy Regulatory Commission, water services and municipal waste management services of the Republic of North Macedonia in 2025.