Gevgelija's Old Bazaar has been opened for use after reconstruction. A total of 27 permits were issued for the restoration of 27 buildings, and around 165 million denars is being invested in the town through the state budget across various projects.

The bazaar was opened by Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski, Deputy Prime Minister and Transport Minister Aleksandar Nikoloski, the Minister of Culture and Tourism, and mayor Andon Saramandov.

Nikoloski pointed to something worth holding on to: "It was not easy, especially as these are protected buildings, but those 27 permits happened, and after that the project gets delivered." He thanked the Cultural Heritage Protection Office and the Ministry of Culture, with whom the Transport Ministry worked jointly.

Why 27 permits is the story

Restoring a protected building is not the same process as redoing an ordinary facade. Every intervention goes through the Cultural Heritage Protection Office, and that means documentation, approvals and deadlines a private owner usually has neither the patience nor the money for. That is why Macedonian old bazaars stand crumbling for decades - not because nobody wants to restore them, but because the permit costs more effort than the building work itself.

That it went through here for 27 buildings at once shows that when institutions agree among themselves, things move. That is not a compliment to any party - it is proof that the deadlock elsewhere is not a technical problem.

What else is being built

Infrastructure works in the villages of Moin, Prdejci and Bogorodica are finished. Work is under way to complete the western boulevard "St. Kliment Ohridski", along with the reconstruction of Železnička, Maršal Tito, Gevgeliski Partizanski Odredi up to the railway station, and Novoplanirana streets.

Gevgelija is a border municipality that everyone travelling to Greece passes through - which means the bazaar does not work only for locals. This is the town where a foreigner first sees what a Macedonian street looks like. Until recently that picture was best passed at speed. This is the first argument for stopping.