The two biggest Macedonian parties are accusing each other of the same thing: favouring the same company. Mastef DOO, a construction firm that has won 93 tenders worth over 18.3 million euros in the past few years. And both parties insist: "Not us, them." And both - it turns out - are right.

According to SDSM, the firm was a "favourite" of VMRO-DPMNE and its municipal structures. Executive member Jon Frčkovski described the situation as "a well-developed corruption system" where the same companies pick up everything - from municipal to state tenders. "We won't be silent and will keep uncovering every criminal scheme," SDSM said.

VMRO-DPMNE replied with documents. According to them, the same Mastef picked up 7 tenders in 2018 from Karpoš municipality alone - worth around 9.5 million denars. Then more from Aerodrom and Kisela Voda in the years that followed, while SDSM was running things at the local level. "All tenders were awarded by legal procedure, with the best offers," VMRO states.

The point of both sides isn't that the others are lying. The point is that both parties, when they held power - both centrally and locally - kept handing tenders to the same firm. Which means Mastef has something that makes it a "natural winner" of tenders - whether that's price, expertise, or a particular connection. The public's question is simple: why?

Behind the clever statements from SDSM and VMRO, the reality is plain. The Balkans have one scenario that repeats every decade: a firm that turns up in the right municipality at the right time, with the right contacts. The two parties are accusing each other because both were participants - while the people who actually decide who wins tenders stay quiet. Who are Mastef's founders? What are their connections? And why is no one interested in naming them? That's the question that should be answered by the anti-corruption commission, not the chatter of party press releases.