Showing posts with label Bitola. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bitola. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Bitola police briefly helds Bulgarian Journalists

Last night Bitola's police briefly booked a TV crew from Bulgaria for filming the Building that houses Bitola's detention center.

The case was confirmed by the Ministry of Interior spokesperson, Ivo Kotevski.

According to Mr. Kotevski, in presence of the Bulgarian consul to Bitola as well as the Police Sector for Foreigners, poloce seized the equipment of the TV crew and ordered them to show what they had filmed.

After the analysis, the Bulgarian TV crew was ordered to erase the material. The journalists had not obtained nor requested a permission to film Macedonian Governmental properties, which is something a foreign journalist must have.

After the filmed material was erased, the police returned their equipment after which the journalists were released.

Friday, February 22, 2008

Anti-Bulgarian graffiti scrawled on consulate fence in Bitola

Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has yet to decide about its response to anti-Bulgarian graffiti that were scrawled on the fence of Bulgarian consulate in Bitola.

"The consulate waits for decision of the Foreign Ministry in Sofia," Bulgarian Consul Ilian Karamanov told Makfax news agency.

The case makes the headlines in Bulgarian media on Wednesday. The media say this is the first incident since the opening of Bulgarian consular office in Bitola.

Local police suspect that the graffiti - "Tatars, go away", written with a white chock on the consulates' fence, was probably scrawled by a high school teenager.

The consulate is located near Josip Broz Tito High School.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Fake doctor cons many in Bitola

Bitola's police are searching for a fake doctor from Skopje, who swindled many Bitola residents in the last three months, reports Makfax correspondent.

The fake doctor, who presented himself as Dr. Vasil, physical medicine specialist, promised full recuperation from heavy diseases, brain strokes, disability and other diagnoses, charging 400 Euros per session.

The owners of the apartment that the fake doctor rented were also defrauded. He did not pay for the rent or for the costs that incurred, and also borrowed 5.000 Denars from them. At the same time, Vasil promised them employment of one family member in the alleged office he was preparing to open in Bitola.

It is not known when did the doctor leave Bitola, and none of the defrauded citizens could track him.

Some of the conned reported the case to Bitola police, and the exact number of defrauded citizens is still being determined.

It is suspected that this is the same person that in May this year conned residents of Kumanovo by promising them healing from heavy diseases.

Thursday, September 06, 2007

Aged man ends up in coma after bandits break into his house

Bitola. An aged man ended up in coma after receiving multiple stabs, while his wife was severely beaten.
Marija and Vidan Boshevski, both aged 77, have been hospitalized in the Bitola's Clinic, after two robbers attacked them in their home in the Mariovo's village of Makovo at about 2 am last night, Makfax's correspondent reported.
The assailants left Vidan with brain hemorrhage, fractures on three ribs and a stabbing wound in the right lung lobe. He has been put at the intensive care department, while Marija, who sustained somewhat lighter injuries, is being treated at the surgery department.
Tashko Trajkovski, 25, from the village of Makovo and Nikola Todorovoski, 18, from Bitola, knocked on Boshevskis' door last night, and jumped on Vidan and Marija right after persuading them to let them in.
The thugs strapped the elderly spouses and harassed them, demanding money. They ransacked the house and enraged from finding only 600 denars, continued beating the old man and woman, stabbing Vidan several times.
Leaving the Boshevski spouses strapped, the bandits headed for the adjacent village of Oreovo to spend the night at their friend's.
At about 05:00 hrs in the morning, Tashko Trajkovski turned himself to the Police. An ambulance was dispatched to the victims' house, which ferried them immediately to the Bitola Hospital.
The Police placed the two bandits in custody pending formal accusations.

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Bitola police officer dies after shot in head

Milojko Bochvanoski, 45, employed in Bitola's Police, who was found shot in the head this morning, has succumbed to the injuries this afternoon, Makfax's correspondent reported.

After receiving a call from a citizen, the Emergency Medical Unit rushed to Bitola's outskirts where they found blood-covered Bochvanoski seating in his car.

His police gun was found lying next to him. Unconscious, but still alive, Bocvhvanoski was ferried to the Bitola Clinical Center, where he passed away this afternoon.

The preliminary findings suggested that Bochvanovski committed suicide, nevertheless, an investigative judge ordered autopsy of the dead policeman's body.

Milojko had been Chief of the Police Precinct at Medzitlija border crossing until last October, when he was transferred to Bitola's branch office of the Interior Ministry to the post of independent analyst.

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Bombs found at old iron depot

Artillery grenades, warplane bomb and ammunition intended for non-live fire exercise ended up as old iron at a depot in Bitola.

Teams of Protection & Rescue Directorate were dispatched today at Ipce depot in Bitola. They picked up a warplane bomb, a 110-milimterer artillery grenade, two 75-milimterer artillery grenades, a 62-milimterer mortar-grenade and 104 exercise bullets for hand launcher.

Grenades and the bomb, stemming from the World War I, had been brought to the depot as old iron.

Bomb technician Kostadin Popovski said the bomb, grenades and the ammunition were deactivated and removed from the depot.

As of early 2007, around 200 unexploded devices, stemming from the World War I and the World War II, have been discovered in Bitola's area. All explosive devices will be destroyed next week.

Sunday, March 11, 2007

Romania to open consulate in Bitola next month

Romania plans to open a consulate in the city of Bitola next month, Makfax correspondent said.

Romanian Ambassador to Macedonia Andrei Constantinescu, who visited Bitola on Tuesday, said Romanian President Traian Basesku will personally open the consulate during his visit to Macedonia next month.

Ambassador Constantinescu met with Bitola Mayor Vladimir Taleski and expressed hope that opening of Romanian consulate in Bitola will deepen the economic co-operation between Macedonia and Romania.

Romanian ambassador said the business people from Romania could be interested in investments in car industry, information technology and pharmaceuticals.

Bitola mayor said Bitola will soon become a host of 10 consulates, as Serbia plans to open its consulate there.

Bitola becomes member of European Association of Historic Towns and Regions

As of March 4, Bitola is a full-fledged member of the European Association of Historic Towns and Regions with rich cultural and historic heritage. The decision was passed in Verona, Italy where Bitola mayor Vladimir Taleski is paying a visit.
The full-fledged membership certificate was presented by association president Louis Roppe.
"We presented two local projects before the auditorium. These are 'Follow the Gold Line' and 'Filmland', which are dedicated to our town", said Taleski.

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

2 teens die in two-car collision on Prilep-Bitola road

Two teenagers died and six other were injured in late Monday's collision involving two cars on Prilep-Bitola road.

Makfax correspondent says the 14-year-old Xhengis Musovski and 15-year-old Jakup Rexhepi, both from Bitola, died in collision involving Lada and Polonez taxi.

The accident occurred when the Lada vehicle run out of gasoline and the teens got out and started to push the vehicle to nearest gas station. The Polonez came up on the road and collided with the Lada. Both cars slipped off the road.

Two teens died instantly, while the other six were rushed to Bitola's hospital and are in stable condition.

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

New Bulgarian Consulate in Bitola

Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ivajlo Kalfin is due to open the Bulgarian Consulate in Bitola today, Focus Agency reported. The new Bulgarian Consulate set up a free telephone line providing information to the citizens on the required documents for visa issuance application.
The Bulgarian Embassy in Skopje and the Consulate in Bitola already started to issue visas.
The Consulate is intended to provide services to the residents of Bitola, Struga, Krushevo, Kichevo, Prilep, Kavadarci, Gevgelija, Strumica, Valandovo and Berovo.
Naum Kajchev has been appointed as Bulgarian Consul in Bitola. His career history includes professorship at the Department for Recent History of the Balkans at the University of Sofia and member of the Sofia-based Macedonian Scientific Institute. In the 1999-2003 period, Kajchev held the post of Bulgarian Consul in Canada.

Monday, January 22, 2007

CGI Allocates Grants to 16 NGOs

A total of 1,450,000 Denars in grants were allocated to 16 non-governmental organizations from southwest region of Macedonia, at the signing ceremony organized last week by the Centre for Civic Initiatives from Prilep.

”This is the first signing of grant agreements in Prilep. We hope to continue this practice of support for NGOs and their activities”, said Goce Todoroski, Executive Director of the Centre for Civic Initiatives.

The agreements were concluded under the “Strengthening Local Community Partnerships” project, implemented by CCI and financed by the Institute for Sustainable Communities. The project aims to assist local development, through promotion of partnerships between civic organizations, public institutions and the private sector.

A total of 57 projects from Prilep, Bitola, Krusevo, Krivogastani and Dolneni municipalities applied in the grant competition. The projects that won support include activities in rural and urban areas, in the fields of education, healthcare, social services, economic development, environmental protection and rural development.

The second competition for support for projects was announced by CCI to take place in February of this year.

Firefighters contain blazes in Bitola area

All fires that broke out in Bitola area last night have been put under control, Makfax's correspondent reported.

A firefighting crew is still operational near the village of Kishava, situated in the vicinity of Greek border.

"The crew has localized the fire at Kishava also, however, large areas of low-growing and beech trees are destroyed", said Zlatko Sovreski, the Head of Bitola's Firefighting Brigade.

Authorities raised sessions that all 14 blazes that broke out yesterday at different locations in Mariovo area, Pelister Mountain foothill and around villages situated along the Greek border, might have been set intentionally.

"Fire outbreaks are unusual for this time of the year, however, it is common practice among the live-stock breeders to burn scrub down to create better grazing land", Sovreski said.

Last night, a forest ranger crew caught two framers as setting fire near the village of Srpci. Bitola's Police is currently investigating the case.

14 Fires raging for a second day in a row at the Baba Mountain near Bitola, Macedonia

Bitola. 14 fires are being raging for a second day in a row in the Baba Mountain near the town of Bitola, Macedonia, FOCUS News Agency’s correspondent in Macedonian reported.
So far the police have arrested two men suspected of having deliberately set the fires. A huge number of firefighters are being working at the site.

Sunday, January 21, 2007

Large fire on Baba mountain

Several hectares of pine wood and juniper bush are on fire that broke out late Tuesday on Baba mountain, near the Strezevo channel, at the Meolica locality.

As reported by Makfax correspondent, because of the inaccessible terrain, the operation is carried out by teams of Macedonian Forestry public enterprise - Kajmakcalan branch in Bitola, as well as Fire Department.

Macedonian Forestry enterprise hopes that low temperatures and snow cover would help in localizing the fire and stop it from spreading onto the opposite side of Baba mountain, near the tourist project Nize Pole.

Saturday, January 20, 2007

1 dead and 1 injured in Bitola fight

One men died and another one was severely injured after a fight that broke out on Belgradska St. in Bitola last night.

The incident occurred at about 20:00 hrs, when four assailants armed with iron bars, batons and a knife attacked 36-year-old Rome Tosheski and a year younger Ilija Talevski in a house located at Belgradska Street, a home of a 36-year-old woman, Makfax's correspondent reported.

According to unofficial information, it is likely that this woman was the reason for the attack.

Rome Tosheski died of the injuries on the spot, while Ilija Talevski was transported to the Bitola Hospital and his current condition is critical.

The four assailants took off from the scene after the attack, but the Police managed to track them down shortly after.

M.M., 24, D.M., 29, F.K., 21, and V.K., 18, all from Bitola, were ordered 30-day temporary detention. They are facing criminal charges for murder.

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Series of robberies of Bitola's dentist offices

Robbers are operating on a large scale in Bitola, plundering dentist offices across the town, Makfax's correspondent reported.

The bandits managed to clear out two dental offices in a month's time, and attempted to rob another two.

The last incident took place on 5 January, when the criminals cleared out the complete inventory of the dentist dispensary of the primary school "Dame Gruev", except for the chair. The material damage is estimated to several thousands of euros.

The other robbery occurred on 17 December in the private dentist office Vedent, located on Nikola Tesla St. in Bitola.

Vedent's owner Vesna Bozinovska-Hristovska said the damage totaled 150.00 euros.

Alarms went off in the dispensaries in the primary school "Elpida Karamanli" and in the village of Kravari, averting the robbers from breaking into these two dentist offices.

Bitola's stomatologists voiced suspicions that an organized group stands behind the robberies. According to them, the criminals are motivated by the high demand for dentist instruments on the black market ahead of the upcoming privatization.

Bitola's Police set out an operation for tracking down the perpetrators.

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Chaos At Bulgarian Consulate in Bitola

Bitola. The jam for Bulgarian visas in Bitola goes on for days, the Macedonian Dnevnik Newspaper reported. People living in Eastern Macedonia have traveled 200 km to the town of Bitola in order to join the queues in front of the consulate at dawn. Dnevnik explained that preparing the visas takes only 2 hours and thus people can finish their work in one day. Smart Bitola citizens took advantage of the situation to establish new “profitable business” by selling their place on the queue at EUR 100. Strumica citizens were the most indignant at the situation because they live 20 km from the Bulgarian boundary but they have to travel 200 km in order to obtain a visa. They demanded that the Macedonian diplomacy to take the measures needed. “We amass expenses, and the condition of the roads is awful. We are going to perish for one single visa, which we need to go to work. If the measures needed are not taken soon, chaos will take over the summer season”, a man living in the village of Kuklish, district of Strumica, complained. The Bulgarian diplomatic representation issues about 150 visas per day. University students, tourist agencies and transport companies are those who predominate on the queues. Bulgaria’s council general in Bitola declared that no one enjoys privileges because the licenses have not been issued yet.

No New Diplomatic Missions in Macedonia

Sofia. Opening offices for issuing Bulgarian visas in other Macedonian towns is not possible, the director of Consular Relations Directorate in Bulgarian Foreign Ministry Dr. Ivan Sirakov said in an interview for Focus Agency.
Last week there were statements that Strumica, Stip and Kriva Palanka demanded offices for Bulgarian visas because Bitolja and Skopje were too far away.
“We would like to help Macedonians but still we consider it is not possible to open new offices for now,” Ivan Sirakov stated.
He explained that the services of a consulate were under a special control and implementation regime. The visa documents are processed and issued by a closed visa control system, the embassy in Skopje and the consulate general in Bitolja being part of it. The system has a user regime, which restricts the number of officials who have access to it. Moreover, the process of taking fingerprints will start soon, which also requires high security and control. I do not think such conditions could be established in new offices because considerable financing and extra personnel are required, Sirakov concluded.

Monday, January 08, 2007

BULGARIA TO PRIORITISE BORDER CONTROL AND VISA ISSUING- KALFIN

Bulgaria became an important country after in joined the EU but still had lots of work to do, Foreign Minister Ivailo Kalfin said.

Border control and travel were one of the things to change, Kalfin said as quoted by Focus news agency.

To facilitate visa issuing for its neighbouring countries, Bulgaria opened several new consulates, Kalfin said. Two new such already work in Nis and Bitola.

Bulgaria was accepting the important function to be an external EU border, Bulgarian ambassador to Turkey Branimir Mladenov told Bulgarian National Radio.

Mladenov said that Bulgaria had to meet two goals. It needed to exercise strict border control to take care of its EU-related duties. At the same time the country had to facilitate the procedure for citizens from its neighbouring countries, said Mladenov.

Head of chief directorate border police Krasimir Petrov said that the situation at the Bulgarian borders was getting back to normal, after the initial confusion related to the country's EU entry.

In the first days of 2007 large queues formed at Bulgarian checkpoints, since drivers were unaware of the new regulations, related to the country's EU accession.

Friday, December 29, 2006

Unidentified male found dead in Bitola

The body of an unidentified male was found early on Monday in Dragor River in the town of Bitola.

There was no immediate word as to the cause of the death - murder, suicide or accident.

The nearby shop-keepers spotted the body and they reported the case to Bitola Police Department.

The body was removed from the river around 10 a.m. The investigative judge ordered autopsy to establish the cause of death.