Ohrid-Living History exhibition opens at Chelsea Town Hall

An exhibition, dedicated to the natural beauties and cultural heritage of Ohrid region, was opened late Monday at Chelsea Old Town Hall in London.
The exhibition, that will be opened for public by May 28, displays about 60 photos, pearls, folk dresses and copies of artefacts, originating from the Ohrid region. The photos, works of art of Petar Boev, Dimce Korunovski, Angel Sitnoski and Aleksandar Kovacevski, are part of a collection of the Ohrid municipality.
The event is organized by PRO ART & Co in Association with Mag Culture and Experience and the City of Ohrid. The opening ceremony was attended by many local citizens, friends of Macedonia, as well as Macedonian nationals that live and work in London.
In addition to the exhibition, Chelsea's main street 'Kings Road' is decorated with posters of Ohrid, presenting the city as a 'Living History' - one of the most beautiful towns in Macedonia, settled by the Ohrid Lake. It boasts with rich cultural history and unique natural world. Inhabited in early times, the town once had 365 churches - one for each day in the year - a large number of them are still preserved. Within them, they protect an immeasurable treasure of frescoes, icons, woodcarving and other sacred objects.
Promoting the exhibition, organizers say that every summer Ohrid hosts the internationally renowned Ohrid Summer Festival and other important cultural events. Many artists, from around the world, have chosen Ohrid as their open-air atelier and regard the town and its surroundings as an endless inspiration.It was also a place where St Clement, a student of the famous Byzantine brothers Saints Cyril and Methodius, revised their Glagolitic Alphabet and simplified letters thus created a new Cyrillic Alphabet, which most of the Eastern European Slavs use even today. Ohrid is the soul of Macedonia and the UNESCO’s World Heritage site.
The exhibition will be also presented in Endiburgh - Scotland, Lithuania and Romania.

Skopje more expensive than London, Moscow

Household appliances, clothing, footwear and many other products are cheaper in London, Moscow and Athens than in Skopje! Although hard to believe, since Macedonian standard and purchasing power of citizens is lower, our search for various offers on websites and looking at world-famous brands showed perhaps an expected conclusion - Macedonians pay the highest prices for the same products in comparison with neighbors and citizens of European countries.
For example, television brand "Sony", ready for viewing in 3D, with a 117 cm screen size, Macedonians paid 1,720 euros, while it is 1,666 euros for the Croats and in Serbia cost 1,500 euros. The Bulgarians in Sofia paid 950 euros for the same TV, almost half of what Macedonians pay.
The same television brand in European countries can be found on an average for 1,150 euros.
Another example is for a new model of child car seat ("Kiko" brand) in Macedonia is 178 euros, while the Brits and other European countries pay between 120-150 euros.
Set of kitchen cutlery from three pieces of Italian brand "Guzzini" in Macedonia cost 31 euro, while Guzzini's website sells them for 19.5 euros."Timberland" shoes in Skopje are selling between 7,000 and 11,000 denars ($140-$200), while simple visit to Timberland's website will see the same shoes ranging from $70 to $75 dollars.

PM Gruevski meets British businessmen in London

Nikola Gruevski

Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski presented yesterday the opportunities for investing in Macedonia to British businessmen in London at an event organized by the British Business Group Macedonia, chaired by Ray Power, the Government said Saturday in a press release.

Traditionally good political relations between Macedonia and Britain, especially affirmed by London's support of Macedonia's EU, NATO integration processes, will also contribute to boosting the bilateral economic cooperation, Gruevski said at the presentation.

The Government, he said, has been working on improving the business climate and working conditions for both domestic and foreign companies in a stable macroeconomic environment.

In this respect Gruevski mentioned the World Bank Doing Business report, which for several years in a row has been ranking Macedonia among the best reformers and attractive business destinations.

Gruevski also referred to the technological industrial development zones and benefits they were offering. They have already welcomed the plants of British companies Johnson Controls and Johnson Metty. For the last four months there has been an intensive investment activity in these zones, namely Johnson Controls is opening yet another plant, while the Italian company 'TeknoHose', US 'Kemet Electronics', Russia's 'Protec Group'  and India's 'Motherson Group' have been working on the realization of their investments.

Prince Michael of Kent, who honored the presentaion with his presence, said he was fascinated by the opportunities for investing in Macedonia and urged British businessmen to learn more about them.

At a separate meeting Gruevski and Prince Michael of Kent shared opinions on possibilities for further development of the Macedonian-British cooperation.