Štip has a third multi-storey car park. Three levels, 50 parking spaces, an investment of over 20 million denars - around 330,000 euros. It was built next to the „Promaja” building, on land which, as mayor Ivan Jordanov says, had been abandoned and used as a small dump.

So an illegal dump has been replaced by a car park. That is a clear gain, and it is worth saying without irony - for 330,000 euros you get 50 spaces and one cleared-up corner of the town.

The cost per space

But once the figures are divided, the picture asks for a second look. Over 20 million denars for 50 spaces means around 400,000 denars per space, or roughly 6,600 euros. For a prefabricated three-level structure, that is not a low price - and nowhere in the statement is there a comparison with the town's other two car parks, or an explanation of what is driving the cost up.

That is information the municipality has. It is not a secret, it just is not published - and that is precisely the difference between a press release and an account.

Numbers that count for something

What Štip has, and far bigger cities do not, is a clear picture of its own parking capacity. Three multi-storey car parks with over 300 spaces. Three platforms along the Otinja with 130 vehicles. On-street parking with over 1,000 spaces. In total more than 1,400 parking spaces in the town.

The prices are set by the public utility Štipion: 40 denars an hour on the platforms, 30 denars in the car parks and on the street. Interestingly, the car park - the more expensive investment - is cheaper for the user than the platform by the river. That is a deliberate decision to push traffic into car parks rather than along the water, and the logic holds.

The next one is announced, and this is where to pay attention

By the end of the year the municipality plans another car park with 90 spaces, either by the old health centre or behind the municipal building. The location has not been decided - which means the project is at the announcement stage, not construction.

Štip has finished such buildings before, so there is no reason for automatic suspicion. The question is a different one: will the 90 new spaces arrive together with data on how many of the existing 1,400 are actually full during the day. Cities rarely lack parking as such - they lack it in the exact spot. Without that measurement, every next car park is a three-level assumption.