The tender for 150 electric buses and 75 chargers worth 51 million euros - the project that was supposed to fix the chronic mess of Skopje public transit - has been cancelled. The state Public Procurement Appeals Commission ruled that both technical and formal failures make it impossible to proceed. Skopje is now left without the promised eco-buses, and Mayor Orce Gjorgjievski is left without an explanation.

The story started with four bids: Electrobus-Ikarus/EVN at 50.6 million euros (314,000 per bus), Actrus/King Long at 50.7 million (324,000 per bus), Zhong Tong at 50.6 million (327,000 per bus), and Turkey's BMC at 59.2 million (385,000 per bus). The Chinese bidders were knocked out over invalid bank guarantees. The Turkish one - over an unsigned bank guarantee and non-compliant technical specs.

And the winning Ikarus/EVN tandem? The Appeals Commission found that the cooperation agreement between them was "signed only on paper, not electronically." That's a technical failure that wipes out every subsequent step. The entire tender - annulled.

This defeat is particularly embarrassing because Mayor Gjorgjievski had announced just days earlier that "delivery of buses from the Hungarian Ikarus will start in roughly a month." Now - not one bus, not one charger, not one day closer to that promised delivery. The cancellation came without any public explanation from the City of Skopje.

For Skopje residents, this is just another bullet point on a long list of promises and failures for public transit. BRT, new buses, free transport - every one of these projects has been buried in political fights and administrative delays over the past 15 years. Levica wasted no time: "The Calvary of Skopje commuters continues." For Gjorgjievski, in the first year of his mandate, this is the first major test of whether he can deliver a capital project. Losing the first attempt sends a clear signal - inherited bureaucracy can't be fixed by press conferences.

The question Skopje residents should be asking isn't "when do the new buses arrive" - there's no answer to that anymore. The question is: how many more years of waiting, and who will answer for the lost months? Because in the meantime, commuters are still standing on the same worn-out buses, in the same traffic, breathing the same polluted air.