The entrance of the Greek company Plastiki was announced by the leader of VMRO-DPMNE, Nikola Gruevski, at a campaign rally in Bitola, ten days before the parliamentary elections in December 2016.
He said that the Greek company specializing in the production of insulating and plastic materials used in construction products, would employ at least 150 people and would invest some 2.5 million euros.
"They will realize this brownfiled investment next year," Gruevski said.
The owner of the company, Yannis Tirbas, said for the Bitola Mega TV station that the company first considered Bulgaria or Serbia as potential destinations for business expansion, but Macedonian officials persuaded them to invest in Macedonia at a business forum held two years ago in Thessaloniki.
He announced that production would begin in early 2017.
"We will make the necesary site adaptations to meet our needs and I think that at the beginning or end of February, or beginning of March, we will start the production. The products will be exported mainly to the countries in the Middle East, but we also have numerous customers in Greece and major construction companies that work also here", said Tirbas.
BIRN did not succeed to find this company in any of the registries in Macedonia, hence it was impossible to determine whether the investment has been initiated.