The inspectorate responsible for checking whether products on the market are safe doesn't even know exactly what's in its own storerooms. That, in short, is what the State Audit Office found when it examined the State Market Inspectorate (DPI).

The auditors issued an adverse opinion on whether the 2024 financial statements gave a true and fair view, and a qualified opinion on compliance with the law. There was no complete inventory of buildings, software, licences or stock. The books didn't match reality, and physical assets had no inventory numbers.

The details read like a comedy sketch. Of four broken-down official vehicles, three were sitting in the lot of Pajak, the towing company, and one was recorded as completely wrecked and lying in a scrapyard. The expense ledger shows 1.107 million denars for office supplies, 791,000 for forms and 249,000 denars for car tyres - around 2.15 million denars in total, with no proper record of where any of it ended up.

Staffing is no better. In 2024, 19 decisions were issued moving administrative staff into inspector posts, with no money set aside in the budget and without the posts being in the hiring plan. Seventeen of them were candidates without a licence. On 30 December 2024, the same 17 were sent back to their old jobs.

The worst part, though, is product safety. Of the 14 posts planned for that department, only five were filled by the end of 2024. Between 2022 and 2025, 40 products were pulled from sale after testing in foreign laboratories - but the state didn't pay for those tests. Projects run by Germany's GIZ and Regio Trade did. The auditors warn that once the foreign money runs out, there's no guarantee the checks will continue.

DPI director Vlatko Stojkoski responds that he asked for the audit himself when he took office, that the report covers 2023 and 2024, and that since 2025 work has been under way on filling posts and on a new software system with EU support. It's good that someone asked for an audit. But a state that can't pay for a safety test on products sold in its own market - how long can it keep protecting consumers with other people's money?