We are pleased to inform you that POLENAK Law Firm has acted as a local legal counsel for the International Finance Corporation and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in the exercise of their put option regarding the disposal of their shareholding in Stopanska Banka AD Skopje, consisting of 10.80% of the issued and outstanding ordinary shares each or a total of 21.32% of issued shares (priority and common) of Stopanska Banka, to the purchaser National Bank of Greece.

Increasing of the knowledge of the journalists in the field of financial reporting of the banks and awarding of the skills in the reading of the financial balances was the goal of this year’s Banking School for Journalists organized by ProCredit Bank.

BiMilk’s recognizable sheep's milk cheese of exceptional quality is one of the staple products underlying the ambitious export strategy of IMB Bitola Dairy for a breakthrough on the Canadian market. It is a recognizable Macedonian product with a quality on par with that of the most famous world cheeses. The yellow cheese is made by using high quality sheep’s milk, purchased from farms that provide milk of an exceptionally high and standardized quality.

In June, Habitat for Humanity Macedonia (HFHM) partnered with the International Women’s Association of Skopje (IWA) to organize the first Women Build in the country.  Women Build is Habitat’s volunteer program for women who want to learn construction skills and make a difference by building homes and communities. The event brought together women from all walks of life and ages to help give a hand up to families in Macedonia living in poverty housing. During the course of the build the volunteers from IWA helped with some of the 24 homes currently going up at the HFHM New Builds Site in Veles, alongside with the ladies of the families slated to move into the new homes.

Duna Computers project entitled "ENTER (Enabling Collaborative Education Infrastructure)" is a winner in the contest of research-development projects in ICT. Leading idea of the project is closely related to education, in providing a methodology and tools for support of collaborative learning, respectively. The project refers to topic how can the education provide means for collaborative work where each individual learning experience can be exchanged, compared and contributed to the learning experience of the whole learning community. Thus, the research team proposed the concept of web 2.0 as most suitable for the development of distance learning.

On June 10, 2010, LinkAcross celebrated the completion of a playground project in the neighborhood of Crnice. This community development project included 4 guests from Kansas, over 100 people from the community, support from the Municipality Kisela Voda, and a generous donation of concrete from AmCham member, Soravia Resorts. The actual celebration included a school program from the students at the Elementary school Kuzman Josifovski-Pitu and speeches by Mayor Marian Gjorcev and Solveig Reeker.

For the first time, a macedonian agency wins the 2010 Gold World Medal at the awards ceremony in Shanghai. Competing among 10 000 creative solutions from more than 70 countries, the World Wide Bakery Calendar 2010 solution by the macedonian marketing agency Futura 2/2 won the 2010 Gold World Medal at the 53rd edition of the prestigious New York Festivals – International Advertising Awards. The awards ceremony of the largest advertising festival in the world took place in Shanghai, China.

We are pleased to inform you that POLENAK Law Firm has been selected by its peers to be included in the 2010 edition of Best Lawyers Macedonia in the areas of Corporate, Investment and M&A. Selection to Best Lawyers is based on an exhaustive and rigorous peer-review survey comprising more than 3 million detailed evaluations of lawyers by other lawyers in the world. Being among the first to be selected in Best Lawyers for Macedonia is a unique and singular honor.

Duna Computers, a Macedonian IT company, recently had a successful launch of ULTIMA® - a software solution for managing small, medium and large companies. ULTIMA® is a complete ERP solution designed to respond to the needs of every company. Including the exceptional expertise of the development team and 20 years of experience in intelligent business software, ULTIMA® enables seamless integration of all business functions in one system. ULTIMA® provides a clear overview and control of the company processes, while presenting in-depth analysis of markets and customers.

Infinite Solutions, a well known IT System Integration and Service company in collaboration with HP Enterprise Services, has lucratively won the harsh competition for the Macedonian Infrastructure & Enterprise Services Upgrade (MIESU) Project for the Ministry of Defense. The strong corporate expertise and experience in professional consulting, software design and system integration are the key core competencies that outset Infinite Solutions from the rest of competitors.

June 4th –June 8th, Primary Schools in Macedonia - Microsoft Macedonia employees engaged in Child Online Safety volunteering activities for the first time this year. Following on from the great interest that was ignited by the February Child Online Safety Forum, we scheduled this volunteering activity, together with a number of schools, for the end of the teaching year.

On April 1, Soravia Center Skopje finalized the concept for the office anchor tenants by welcoming Capital Bank in its premises. The idea presented long time ago in Soravia Group’s headquarter in Vienna, even before starting the construction works, was to aim for exclusive tenants from each of the following industries: mobile phone operators, banks, insurance companies and auditors. Previously, we had VIP Operator, Evroins and KPMG on board. These four tenants occupy around 55% of our available office area and combined with the others (IFC, Sony, Strabag, Rudnap to name a few) are completing the basic concept for the Soravia Center Skopje.

In the period of 24-25.5.2010 as a part of this year’s Spring the Experts event, traditionally organized every year by Semos, IT experts from Macedonia and the region had the unique opportunity to meet Itzik Ben-Gan and exchange knowledge and experience.

Komercijalna Banka AD Skopje is awarded with the “Kristalno dzvono” (“Cristal bell”) prize for most transparent company listed on the Macedonian Stock Exchange for 2009. The election was made by the Election Commission, comprised by representatives of the Macedonian Stock Exchange and its Listing Committee, institutional investors, brokers and representatives of the media.

On May 6, in the hotel Epinal, ProCredit Bank organized business cocktail named “It’s time for business”. The cocktail was attended by abundant number of businessmen, clients and cooperators of ProCredit Bank, from the region of Pelagonija. The purpose of this cocktail was to promote the new ProCredit Bank business packages tailored to the needs of small and medium sized enterprises with a lot of advantages for their development.

Celebrities, partners, zone managers, leaders and employees got together to celebrate 5 years of beauty in the Macedonian national theatre. Candles, flowers, lighting depicting women’s images and Frank Sintra’s music made an enchanting evening for almost 300 attendees at Avon Macedonia’s 5th anniversary. The posh event gathered representatives from the US Embassy, American Chamber of Commerce, Ministry of Health, the most famous Macedonian singer Elena Risteska, models and artists.

After our first promotion of the new product at "BEOEXPO 2010" in Belgrade, VESNA-SAP promoted the new hybrid battery "VESNA" in front of the Macedonian audience. The new battery follows the new trend of battery production, and fulfills all the requirements for the new generation of cars.The promotion for the Macedonian Business audience was held in Probishtip, and attracted over 70 attendees.

ProCredit Bank launched for the first time on the Macedonian market, loans which will promote funding of investments in projects intended for energy saving and decrease of pollution of environment as well as financing of energy-saving technology. Eco loans are provided to enterprises and households to finance investments in energy saving measures such as the installation of new windows with better isolation, , introduction of solar panels, more efficient water heaters, better heating system, more efficient machines and vehicles.. By investing in energy-saving technologies enterprises and households can save money on energy bills while at the same time contribution to the protection of the environment.

On March 18, in the hotel Stone Bridge – Sky Restaurant ProCredit Bank organized business cocktail named “It’s time for business”. The cocktail was attended by abundant number of businessmen, clients and cooperators of ProCredit Bank. The purpose of this cocktail was to promote the new ProCredit Bank business packages tailored to the needs of small and medium sized enterprises with a lot of advantages for their development. The companies had an opportunity to networking as well as to raise their ideas on “what kind of bank services they need” in order to improve their businesses. 

Banking Industry Could see Up to 10 Percent Revenue Increase with Adoption of New Business Models and Video Services Cisco announced the findings of a retail banking study that suggests banks have an opportunity to increase revenues up to 10 percent by embracing Generation Y consumers. Conducted by the Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG), Cisco's global consultancy, the study surveyed 1,055 U.S. consumers to better understand their financial priorities, service expectations from banks, video adoption, and interaction preferences. The study's results are wide-reaching, revealing that Gen Y consumers trust their banks and, despite recent financial setbacks, are seeking their help in making important financial decisions.

FULM Saving House has been operating in the Macedonian financial market since 1999 when it implemented the first saving and credit union in Macedonia. The activities of FULM Saving House are founded with the financial support of the United States Agency of International Development (USAID) and technical support of the World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) through Association of Citizens FULM (AC FULM). 

On March 18th at the business center of Skopje Fair, Microsoft Macedonia held the fourth interoperability roundtable: Interoperability builds choice, encourages innovation and creates opportunities. This year the roundtable was organized in partnership with the Centre for eGovernance Development (CeGD). Event speakers were: H.E. Ivo Ivanovski, Minister of Information Society; Mr. Ilijancho Gagovski, General Manager Microsoft Macedonia, Mr. Andreas Fuhsberger, Regional Standards Officer for Central & Eastern Europe, Microsoft corp., and Mr. Blaz Golob, Director of Centre for eGovernance Development for South East Europe (SEE).

Following its determination for meeting the customers’ needs more appropriately, Komercijalna Bank AD Skopje extended its network with yet another new city-branch. On March 10th 2010 the new city-branch located in the central building of Makpetrol AD in the center of Skopje started with operation, with working hours from Monday to Friday from 08:00 till 17:00 and Saturday from 07:30 till 13:30.

In the period 01-05 March 2010 under the patronage of the European Union, European Commission, the European Committee on ICT (CEPIS), in order to increase computer literacy, thousands of events under the common name "e-Skills Week" were held! More: http://www.semoskoc.com.mk/Default.aspx?mId=123&eid=231&Lan=EN  In support of the international e-Skills week, Semos Education as ECDL testing center have enabled free exams for ECDL European Computer Driving License, as a most popular certificate for information literacy in Europe. More: http://www.semoskoc.com.mk/Default.aspx?mid=121&Lan=EN

A project for preparing project documentation and future implementation for usage of biomass and energy efficiency in Teteks has been started as part of cooperation between the Italian and Macedonian ministries for environment.

Global warming has been a slow, natural process caused by GHG (Green House Gasses) that, throughout evolution, nature has been able to adapt. Their emission into the atmosphere has been balanced out by natural absorption.

By Dave Evans, Chief Futurist, Cisco IBSG Innovations Practice

Mr. Petreski conducted this seminar with his colleague Branimir Jovanovic, who is with the Research department of the National Bank of Macedonia. He is a graduate from Staffordshire University.

On October 21,, “Fitch Ratings”, the global ratings agency, awarded ProCredit Bank Macedonia with a rating “BB+” outlook stable. ProCredit Bank is the only bank in Macedonia to receive a rating by “Fitch Ratings”.

The e-Parliament solution, developed and implemented by Nextsense for the beneficiary the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia, was presented at the World e-Parliament Conference 2009 in Washington D.C.

After the revitalization of  all small hydro power plants with introduction of new and modern technology in them, EVN Macedonia has increased electricity production from renewable sources by 50%.

EVN Macedonia registered less number of defects in the distribution network of over 40% compared with the same period last year, and such percentage, or more precisely 43%, was shortened the duration of interruptions.

SEE-University’s Students Union launched their last project and one of the most important points of the SU program, Campus Radio. This new media is broadcasted 24 hours inside the University’s Campus and also throughout the Internet for the “outside” listener.

Following the success of the 1st fundraiser in 2007, the University American College Skopje launched its 2nd Humanitarian fund raiser, which was organized by the student body through the student council. This year’s Christmas holidays have prompted the students to organize an auction to raise enough funds to purchase basic hygiene items, medical equipment and other necessary items for the University Pediatric Clinic, Orthopedic Clinic and the Institute for respiratory diseases in children – Kozle, all in Skopje.

Realizing the need of raising of the awareness on energy efficiency, as well as the conditions on field, EVN Macedonia has started a broad action for rational use of electricity. The goal of this action is to educate the citizens about the benefits from wise use of electricity in their every day life. Through advices, commercials, advertisements in the press, brochures and billboards, messages are sent to the users for rational use of electricity.

The challenging economy in 2009 put many businesses under stress, but for some it provided opportunities to grow and realize their ambitions. In early 2009, Grant Thornton UK LLP developed an initiative that would deliver a coordinated ‘one-firms’ message in response to the recession. The result is a Recession guide “Real world solutions for testing times” to help its clients identify effective solutions for coping with the financial challenges they face in the new economic situation.

The first SOS markets in Macedonia were opened at the beginning of this month. These markets have the goal to alleviate the lives of the citizens who live on social security and their everyday struggle to provide the most basic life commodities. In the SOS markets these citizens will have the opportunity to buy products with lower prices. The news was welcomed more than 17000 citizens in the city of Skopje alone.

The end of the year is the time when we look back at our results but at the same time look forward in the year that comes, preparing ourselves for the future plans. 2009 was very important year for our company. We became part of the Telekom Slovenia family, we became ONE- the first operator in the country with full telecommunication portfolio, high quality and unique product and services. 

On Thursday, December 10th, 2009, Microsoft Partners in Learning in partnership with the USAID Primary Education Project (PEP) organized 1st Macedonian Innovative Educators Forum Competition Awards Ceremony and Exhibition in hotel Aleksandar Palace in Skopje, Macedonia.

McCann Erickson Skopje is proud to recap 2009 as a successful year fulfilled with many international awards recognizing its creative work.Our campaign for raising public awareness on the testicular cancer called “Check them”, prepared for the Client “Veritas Spiriti” was our 2009 win by all means.

DHL Express Macedonia, part of the world’s leading express and logistics DP DHL group, in December 2009 received another strong endorsement in its continuous drive to achieve superior security and service levels. DHL Express Macedonia’s Skopje facility has set a new benchmark when it was presented with the Technology Asset Protection Association (TAPA) certificate by SGS, UK.

With a big socially responsible event, ProCredit Bank marked its 6th anniversary of working successfully on the Macedonian market.

Bearing in mind one of it strategic mission statements - development - ProCredit Bank organized a two-day Banking school for journalists, held on 27-28 July 2009, in the premises of the ProCredit Academy, located on Lake Mladost, Veles.

ProCredit’s Branch in Kisela Voda was opened as a result of the increased demand for ProCredit Bank’s services. Located on the street Ivan Kozarov, this branch aims to be more accessible to the local population. It offers a wide range of banking services, to every citizen in the region as well as to small businesses and artisans, by giving them maximum credibility and providing support to their entrepreneurial ideas.

Nova International Schools was looking for a long overdue improvement of their existing website. Their intention was to create a web portal that would reach out to all NOVA stakeholders, especially their students and parents.

Year 2008 has been a rough ride for the economy and the financial sector. In the major economies, it seems that each week another major bank failure, economic crisis, or government bailout is grabbing the headlines.

On May 20, 2009 the Corporate Social Responsibility Coordinative Body granted a National Award for Good Corporate Social Responsibility Practices in 2008. The competition included 33 companies and 52 projects, including applications from 24 small and medium enterprises. The winners included 3 AmCham Macedonia member companies – congratulations!!

McCann Erickson Skopje recently proved its commitment, determination and creativity at this year’s Festival of Media Awards in Valencia, Spain. The company won a prestigious creativity award for their “Check them!” public awareness campaign on testicular cancer.  The campaign was developed for Veritas Spiriti and combined creativity and effectiveness to produce a truly unique advertising campaign.

Toward loyally supporting the Macedonian economy, ProCredit Bank Macedonia continues to actively finance small and medium businesses. Under the motto “ProCredit Bank stands by you”, the bank continues to offer favorable business loans to entrepreneurs, despite this year’s tough economic climate. The loans are available via the usual fast and simple procedure, flexible collateral and fixed interest rates for loans with a payment period up to 5 years.

Duna Computers proudly announces its successful design, development and implementation of Ultima CRM (Customer Relationship Management) and Ultima Enterprise software in Imperial Tobacco Group (ITG).

The OHRID Institute and the University American College Skopje are now offering a new International Educational Curriculum Program. The program is an innovative platform for studying International Political Economy, focused on the role of democratic governance and the development of market economies.

Toward promoting a culture of saving in Macedonia, ProCredit Bank launched a new program under the motto “Save with a plan.” The Bonus Savings Plan is intended for anyone saving with a specific goal in mind (e.g., making a product purchase, taking a summer holiday, renovating their home). Customers on the Plan will define their regular monthly savings according to their needs and abilities.

On December 17th, Skopski Pazar will open its SP Planet business center in the Skopje municipality of “Gorce Petrov”. This modern building is of great significance both for the Gorce Petrov municipality and the city of Skopje.

Best Western Hotel Turist in Skopje has been awarded the prestigious Quality Award 2008 after undergoing an extensive Quality Assessment executed by the hotel’s chain’s independent assessors. Our hotel was evaluated along with the other 76 hotels that comprise Best Western Central Europe, receiving the highest Quality Assurance Score among the group.

Makpetrol AD was the sole Macedonian company among the signatories of an important Declaration confirming its commitment to and support of human rights. December 10, 2008 marked the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. On that day, approximately 250 General Managers organized by the United Nations and the Global Compact signed this important declaration. Makpetrol AD has been a member of the Global Compact since 2004, supporting each of its ten principles, including human rights.

Consumers in Bosnia and Herzegovina have named Caffetin and the Becutan collection, products of Alkaloid Skopje, “superbrands” in their country. The awards were presented at the Superbrand BiH event which took place at the Sarajevo Youth House. For the first time, BiH’s awards were organized by Superbrands International, the only global independent brands authority present in more than 82 countries worldwide.

This issue includes details on:

The opening of the SEEU Business Incubator on November 04, 2008 was the crowning event of a year's work by the SEEU Business Development Centre and its partners. The project, which aims to attract young people, train and coach them in business skills, and help them establish their own companies, is financially supported by SEEU and FOSIM, and implemented in cooperation with the YES Incubator in Skopje.

AAG - Analysis and Advisory Group (www.aag.com.mk), through its affiliated company AAG Komunikacii, has become the exclusive Macedonian products and services distributor for the American company, Hogan Assessment Systems.

ProCredit Bank marked its fifth anniversary in Macedonia by organizing an open air concert, titled “A Gift for the City of Skopje” on September 19th. The concert was organized in cooperation with the German Embassy in Skopje and held on “Macedonia Street” in the center of the city.

The renewed magazine Finance Central Europe announced the winners in different categories in which the financial institutions from Macedonia and Europe are ranked. ProCredit Bank, Macedonia is first named “The Best International Bank in Macedonia 2008” according to the following criteria: quality of the loan portfolio, the assessment of the funds, the strength of the capital, total profit, return of funds and return of equity of the bank.

On June 24th, AMSM marked the first anniversary of its monthly magazine, AMSM Mobility Club. The publication primarily aims to increase member awareness of traffic issues and related topics, given that AMSM believes it is their responsibility to broaden its horizons and forge a closer relationship with its members. AMSM Mobility Club shows the value of the organization by showcasing its unique services and their role in the everyday life of members and other drivers.

Skopje, Macedonia (July 1, 2008) – Today, Inner Circle Logistics, Inc.’s (ICLogistics) trade facilitation solution was successfully demonstrated in partnership with the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) and the Customs Administration of the Republic of Macedonia (CARM). 

On June 28 the eco initiative “Save Nature” organized by ProCredit Bank employees, was simultaneously carried out in Strumica’s Vodocha dam area, in Tetovo along the road to Shar mountain, in Ohrid at the city beach and in Skopje along the bank of the Vardar river.

On Wednesday, 11 June 2008, Zagreb’s Sheraton hotel hosted the first ever regional roadshow of SE European capital markets. The event included all eight SE European stock exchanges: Banja Luka, Belgrade, Ljubljana, Montenegro, NEX Montenegro, Sarajevo, Zagreb and Macedonia. The investor conference showcased listed companies from each exchange and offered one-on-one meetings with investors.

Toward promoting Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in companies throughout Southeastern Europe, the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany carried out a program to identify and reward companies that are most successful at implementing a CSR strategy. The program aimed to introduce CSR to as many companies as possible and increase their understanding of the concept and its potential benefits to companies and society at large. 

For the first time, the Center for Institutional Development (CIRa) and USAID in Macedonia granted philanthropy awards and prizes for 2007 on April 22nd.  Teteks AD won the 2007 Philanthropy Award in the “large national company” category. According to the jury’s estimation, Teteks had allocated over €100.000 in donations this year alone to more than 20 hospitals and other health care institutions, charity organizations and NGOs, making a huge contribution to the development of philanthropy in Macedonia.

To additionally streamline application procedures for loans for very small, small and medium-sized enterprises, ProCredit Bank has facilitated the collateral requirements for its clients in these segments.

The University American College Skopje’s May eNewsletter is now available at:

In April 2008, Alkaloid AD Skopje and Ss. Cyril & Methodius University signed an agreement to develop project-based and other cooperation toward achieving common goals of both the academic and business communities in Macedonia.

This year, DHL Express will celebrate in its brand new state of the art, office facility which boasts 2500 square meters and, its own customs depot which offers the highest standards in process engineering, computer technology and security. DHL Express has invested to make its service even faster and more reliable than ever.

Komercijalna banka AD Skopje took part in one of the most significant investment projects in the Republic of Macedonia by issuing a foreign currency security in the amount of €9 million to the TE-TO AD stock company in Skopje.

On April 4, 2008 FULM Citizens Association (AC FULM) and the Foundation for Polish Credit Unions signed a Cooperation Agreement toward intensifying existing relationship between the two organizations.

The 3rd annual Youth Leadership Forum organized by the Boris Trajkovski International Foundation was held in NOVA this last weekend (Feb.22th-24th).

Grant Thornton in Macedonia unveiled its new brand identity on February 19 2008. Grant Thornton member firms in over 100 countries adopted the new global brand identity and logo and will be instantly recognizable as part of the Grant Thornton International organization.

In the course of 2007, the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany, with the intention of promoting the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the region of Southeast Europe, has carried out a programme according to which the most successful companies working to promote CSR concept were awarded. Within this project in Macedonia, the program was implemented by Invent in partnership with Iltis, Basme KT and Balkan net from Skopje, whereas Balkan net acts as operational coordinator for the countries in the region.

The renowned restaurant “Restoran 14” – property of Skopski Pazar AD, in cooperation with “Hrana I Vino” have organized an evening dinner dedicated to the traditional Turkish cuisine, Turkish music and habits.

The Mellon Group of Companies, represented by Nicos Petrakopoulos, President and Managing Director of the Group, is placed among the ten finalists of the European Business Awards' “Entrepreneur of the Year” category.

With the aim of improving service quality and facilitating communication with hearing impaired customers, Skopski Pazar, in cooperation with the Association of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Persons of Macedonia, organized the second round of sign language classes for employees of SP markets, Maxi D discount stores, and Unique Beauty Center in Skopje. The employees learned sign language basics, as well as the signs needed to communicate with hearing impaired store customers.

ProCredit Bank officially opened its new branch in Strumica, located in one of the most beautiful buildings from the previous century, known as hotel “Srpski kralj” or “Stara Nama”. “This investment which is around one million of Euros, means strengthening of the position of ProCredit Bank in Strumica. We are proud to be able to restore this very important cultural object and to keep its original look. We belive that ProCredit Bank in Strumica will become a very important financial center” stated Mrs. Jovanka Joleska Popovska in her welcoming speech.