North Macedonia's Rail Agency Paid €7.78m in Fees on Undrawn Loans

North Macedonia's public railway infrastructure company had paid €7.78 million in fees on undrawn loan funds by the end of 2024, while 44% of €191.4 million in approved railway loans remained unused, according to a State Audit Office report released on 5 November 2026.

The finding concerns **JP ŽRSM Infrastructure Skopje**, the state enterprise responsible for railway tracks and infrastructure. It is separate from **ŽRSM Transport**, the train operator whose ageing locomotives were examined in another audit released on 3 November. The new report audits the infrastructure enterprise's **2024 accounts and compliance**; it does not establish the amount of loan funding drawn or fees paid during 2025 or 2026.

Loan charges and Corridor 8 delays

Auditors said the company had approved loans totaling €191.4 million for rehabilitation, construction and reconstruction, with 44% still undrawn. Fees charged on undrawn balances totaled €7.78 million through the end of 2024, including €536,000 during 2024. Most of the fees related to the second phase of the east-west Corridor 8 railway, the audit said. The company also paid €2.85 million in interest on the loans in 2024, at variable rates between 4.84% and 5.14%.

These are **reported financing charges**, not a finding that €7.78 million was stolen, that the entire €191.4 million was spent, or that undrawn funds are missing. The audit criticises planning and execution; identifying any particular unlawful payment would require separate evidence.

For Corridor 8's first eastern section, whose contract was signed in 2013, auditors reported a 96% increase over the original contract value and an extension of the completion deadline by eight years and three months. They cited design and structural errors, additional land acquisition, changes in materials and signalling, access roads, contract termination and replacement of a contractor.

The second section's construction contract, worth €155 million, was signed in July 2022 after a long interruption in works. Its extended deadline was 23 October 2026, according to the audit. The report does not by itself verify whether that deadline was ultimately met.

Missing records and staffing gaps

The auditors also reported that 91% of the company's construction assets by the measure described in the report — linear railway infrastructure recorded at MKD 12.773 billion — had not been entered in the relevant infrastructure cadastre. The company lacked title deeds for some other property as well. These are registration and accounting-control findings, not evidence that the underlying assets disappeared.

Only 718 of 1,314 positions in the company's staffing plan were filled, about 54%. Auditors said 30% of employees did not meet specified educational-level or qualification conditions for their posts. The report also criticised temporary reassignment practices used to fill staffing gaps.

The company recorded a 2024 accounting loss of MKD 188.775 million. Including losses carried forward from previous years, accumulated losses totaled MKD 4.725 billion. Accumulated losses are not equivalent to cash diverted or a single-year expenditure.

The State Audit Office described some railway infrastructure as obsolete, poorly maintained or partly nonfunctional, with reduced speeds or halted traffic on certain sections. Its report said sustained investment and corrective action were needed.

Company response and what remains unresolved

The audit office says the enterprise's legal representative submitted a response dated 2 November and a supplement dated 3 November, received on 3 and 4 November respectively, describing actions taken against the auditor's recommendations, including progress on both Corridor 8 sections. Those submissions are incorporated into the final audit. Their existence does not establish that the delays, asset-registration gaps or staffing deficiencies have been resolved.

Local outlet 360 Stepeni independently reported the infrastructure audit on 5 November, highlighting the undrawn-loan fees, construction delays and staffing shortfall. The next documentary checks are the complete company response, the updated status of the 23 October Corridor 8 deadline, the underlying loan agreements and the actual 2025–2026 financing charges.

TFNOS previously reported the **separate** 3 November audit of the state railway operator, which found only nine of its 62 locomotives working in the period examined: https://tfnos.org/article/north-macedonia-s-state-rail-operator-had-just-9-of-62-locomotives-working-b6501b0d780c. That fleet finding must not be attributed to the infrastructure company.