Inspections by the competent institutions have identified more than 4,500 cases of fake beneficiaries of guaranteed minimum assistance and social insurance, Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski announced.

Among those for whom funds were disbursed from the state budget were deceased persons, displaced citizens and fictitious individuals.

“So far, we have more than 4,500—not 45, not 450, but 4,500 fake beneficiaries of guaranteed minimum assistance and social insurance,” Mickoski said.

The prime minister said that analyses and field verifications had resulted in the amount earmarked for payments this month being around 200 million denars lower than during the same period last year.

“How is this possible? It is possible because, unfortunately, the beneficiaries were deceased persons, displaced persons, fake persons and so on,” he said.

According to Mickoski’s calculations, more than one billion denars were spent annually from the state budget on such payments, while in some cases the amount reached as much as 1.5 billion denars.

The verification process has not yet been completed. The prime minister said that approximately one-fifth to one-sixth of the total number of beneficiaries still had to be checked.

He warned that the inspections would extend beyond guaranteed minimum assistance and social insurance to include other sectors, including healthcare.

Mickoski estimated that the inspections had so far generated a financial effect of around 25 million euros per year.

“Someone will say: ‘All right, so this is just a simple inspection—what kind of reform are you talking about?’ A reform worth 25 million euros,” he said.

According to the prime minister, potential savings in other sectors, achieved through inspections and similar measures, could be used for capital investments. He said these funds would help create more favorable conditions for new investment and economic development.

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