Two public calls from the Ministry of Economy and Labour offer domestic manufacturing companies between 200,000 and 500,000 denars in support. The ministry covers 70 percent of eligible costs. The application deadline is 15 September 2026.

The first call targets cooperation between manufacturing companies and universities - introducing innovative methods linked to the circular economy, digitalisation and smart specialisation. The total value of that call is five million denars, and a single company can receive at most 500,000 denars.

The second call covers implementation and standardisation of processes and improving competitiveness. It has two million denars available, with a maximum of 200,000 denars per company.

Seven million denars for an entire industry

The combined fund of both calls comes to seven million denars. That is about 114,000 euros - for every manufacturing company in the country.

The number reads itself. Each of the two calls, divided by its own maximum award, stretches to ten companies - five million at 500,000 each, two million at 200,000 each. Around twenty firms for the whole country. That is not industrial policy, that is a pilot programme.

Deputy Minister of Economy and Labour Marjan Risteski says company interest is high and that the measures bring production upgrades, European standards and digitalisation, and indirectly new jobs. He cited the new plant of the company "VIK" in the Prilep industrial zone, with around 300 employees, operating on circular economy principles.

The question worth more than the amount

The most interesting part of the first call is not the money but the condition: a company must apply in partnership with a university. That opens a subject rarely discussed openly here - how much of the knowledge created in academic institutions actually reaches the factory floor.

Faculties have researchers and laboratories. Companies have concrete problems. When the two sides work separately, the economy loses. When they cooperate, products and processes get developed that fit local conditions.

But a partnership requirement is no guarantee the cooperation will be real. If projects lack clear goals, responsibilities and success indicators, the partnership stays a signature on paper that unlocks a subsidy - and we have seen that before.

There is a practical risk too. If the paperwork is too complex or the deadline too short, small companies - the ones that need the support most - simply will not apply. A call that opens and closes while the accountant is still reading the announcement is not equally open to everyone.

The real indicator will not be the number of applications. It will be whether anyone, a year from now, publishes which projects were supported and what they produced. Without that report, the seven million denars will stay just another line in an annual programme.