During SDSM reign 2002-2006, SDSM officials have taken over $12m in bribes from Magyar and Deutche Telecom, for their agreement not to let other internet and telecom companies enter Macedonia and maintain the monopoly of Magyar and Deutsche Telecom.
The Government led by Vlado Buchkovski and Radmila Shekerinska (current DM), maintained the telecom and internet monopolies despite repeated warnings and requests by Brussels for Macedonia to provide free market in this area.
As a result of this monopoly, Macedonian citizens paid outrageous sums of money for their subpar internet and telecom services. The US Court in New York back in 2011 ordered Magyar and DT to pay $95m in fines, which likely came from the pockets of Macedonian subscribers. Both Deutsche Telecom and Magyar Telco admitted in New York, the SDS led Government was bribed to prevent other companies to enter Macedonia in order to keep their control of the market and maintain inflated prices. Compared to other regions, Macedonian customers paid $38.4m dollars more every year for telephone and internet services than their neighbors.
The monopoly was broken by VMRO-DPMNE who brought in Austrian Telecom and VIP who drastically reduced the prices for telephone and internet services, to the ones we see today.
