Klekovski: Healthcare in North Macedonia Has a Budget of Around One Billion Euros, but Spending Is Accompanied by Significant Waste

Health Minister nominee Sasho Klekovski believes that although the healthcare budget in North Macedonia is set to reach around one billion euros for 2026, there are significant losses in the way these funds are being used.

In an interview with “360 Degrees,” the director of the Health Insurance Fund (HIF) said this budget represents approximately 5.8% of GDP and 15% of the state budget. According to him, healthcare funds in North Macedonia are larger than those of Albania, Kosovo, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, but remain lower compared with other countries in the region.

“Essentially, the parameters you mentioned correspond to the country’s overall development. So, we are ahead of Albania, Kosovo, and Bosnia in most other parameters, and that is the real situation. Essentially, the share of GDP and public spending, public finances, is where it is at the moment. It is not very far from the European average, that is, from what is desired — for ten percent of GDP to be allocated. However, at this moment, these are the given parameters. My focus as director of the Health Fund, and I assume as minister, is on rationalizing its use. So, I have said many times that in the current spending of these funds you mentioned, there is a great deal of waste,” said Klekovski.

He also spoke about the financial liabilities in the public system, stressing that the shared services of Skopje’s university clinics have a debt of around 35 million euros. According to him, among the clinics, the biggest debtor is the Oncology Clinic.

“Essentially, debts in public healthcare do exist. They are greatest in the shared services, which are not a healthcare institution but a public institution, and we are committed to managing them. This is due to several internal and external, subjective and objective factors. They require not only short-term measures, but also medium-term measures. In 2024, when there were conditions in the budget, we carried out an extraordinary debt relief for public healthcare, and our goal is to achieve regular payments. At the Fund, we are making regular payments to family doctors, pharmacies, and certain groups of suppliers.”