Republic of Macedonia

Greece’s terms for a solution to an ongoing name dispute with the neighboring Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) “have been shaped in such a way to be unacceptable to us,” the Balkan country’s prime minister, Nikola Gruevski, told the Skopje-based Republika newspaper on Friday.

The National Cinema Council has picked Bulgarian Rhapsody as the Bulgarian movie to participate in the race for 2014's Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Bulgarian Rhapsody, a co-production with Israel is the last part of a trilogy directed by Ivan Nichev dedicated to the rescue of Bulgarian Jews during WWII.

Macedonian Finance Minister Zoran Stavreski said that since the debt write-off campaign was launched in early August, some 17,600 socially vulnerable people from the socially have applied to be exempted from paying overdue bank loans, heating, water, television and electricity bills.

...

Regional authorities in Central Macedonia, where archaeologists are excavating a large burial mound that has sparked intense media interest and captivated the public’s imagination have asked the government to increase security at the site. The request was made during a meeting on Thursday between Governor Apostolos Tzitzikostas and Public Order Minister Vassilis Kililias.

Zaev was found guilty on Wednesday of falsely accusing Gruevski of being involved in the corrupt sale of Makedonska Banka in 2004 to Serbian businessman Jovica Stefanovic, aka Gazda Nini (‘Boss Nini') and for allegedly accepting a bribe of 1.5 million euro to expedite the deal.

Buckovski, who was convicted of misusing state funds while buying spare parts for army tanks while he was defence minister, before he became Macedonia's premier, said he would now appeal to the supreme court.

...

The Skopje Appellate Court has sentenced former Macedonian Prime Minister and Defense Minister Vlado Buckovski to two years of imprisonment.

The Skopje-based Appellate Court  reduced Buckovski's sentence from three to two years of imprisonment, alleviating the penalty handed by the Skopje Basic Court I on July 1, 2013.

Moves by the Serbian Orthodox Church to put the head of the Church in Macedonia on "trial" before an ecclesiastical court in Serbia will set back recent attempts to renew dialogue between the churches, observers say.

Despite the Russian embargo, Greek peach exports have posted major growth so far this year, reaching 141,000 tons from 112,000 tons in the first eight months of 2013, a Development Ministry committee heard on Monday.

Still, peach producers will see their revenues decline this year as prices will drop.

The court hearing Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski’s slander case against opposition Social Democrats leader Zoran Zaev refused on Monday to accept the recording of the telephone call as evidence.

It also refused to question Gruevski’s former associate Den Doncev, a potentially key witness for the defence, whose voice is also on the tape, the opposition alleges.