At the beginning of 2013, the Director of the Agency for Foreign Investments and Exports Promotion, Visar Fida, announced that an investment worth 15 million euros by Turkish medical company Matek would be entering Macedonia. BIRN has failed to confirm whether this investment has been realised, as no such company has been registered in Macedona, nor has it been mentioned on the website of the Directorate for Technological Industrial Development Zones. The Matek factory, as announced, was supposed to be located in Bunardzik.
The main activity of the company, which is located in Ankara, is the production of technical medical aid.
"The company will produce highly technological medical products such as transbronchial biopsy needles, endobronchial needles, biopsy markers, surgical kits, surgical gowns, catheters and stents," explained the Director of the Agency for Foreign Investments and Export Promotion Visar Fida.
He stated initially that the company would employ 100 people who would be trained to produce high technology medical products. In a few years, the number of employees would reach 300.
The Matek factory cannot be seen in the visual display of factories in Bunardzik.
The Agency for Foreign Investments told BIRN that companies Matek and Total had merged with ISTEM Medikal, who had secured construction land in the Technological Industrial Development Zone Skopje.
"Due to the crisis situation in Turkey, they have postponed their investment for a year. Owners expect to start with the realisation of the investment in Macedonia in 2017," explained the Agency.