The Plusinfo news website resumes its investigation about the scandalous cooperation agreement between the Macedonian Radio and Television and the Investigative Reporting Lab (IRL).
“After the Investigative Reporting Lab (IRL), in response to Plusinfo’s questions, confirmed that it had not fulfilled its obligations under the contract with the national broadcaster MRTV worth EUR 180,000 for one season, the silence of the institutions about this scandal continues today. MRTV and the Association of Journalists of Macedonia are silent, and the Agency for Audiovisual Media Services (AAVMS) has declared itself incompetent to control such agreements,” reads Plusinfo’s article.
As Plusinfo has already reported, IRL confirmed that they have not fully fulfilled the contract for the filming of 38 pieces of content for which they signed a contract with MRTV worth EUR 150,000 plus 18% VAT. By the end of the contract, November 31, 2025, four investigative films were supposed to be broadcast, and only two have been broadcast. Far fewer podcasts have also been broadcast than agreed. The IRL adds that other content is currently being produced, for which an annex to the contract was concluded, extending its validity until September 30, 2026.
Following this explanation, the Plusinfo editorial office sent new questions to the IRL, requesting that the annex to the contract be publicly announced. Given that IRL claims that MRTV has not paid all the money from the concluded contract, Plusinfo also asked IRL for an answer to the question of how much money the public service owes it for the first contract, the validity of which has expired.
“We have received your additional questions. We will answer them accordingly after we find the details that interest you. Considering that some of our employees who are familiar with the administrative work of the editorial office are currently on work assignments, we will send you the answer additionally,” the IRL responded.
