Action against Economic Crime in North Macedonia

Back New Roadmap for North Macedonia to mitigate and manage money laundering risks related to virtual assets

Irena BABUSHKOVSKA

Modified 1 Month ago.

New Roadmap for North Macedonia to mitigate and manage money laundering risks related to virtual assets

A Roadmap for mitigating and managing money laundering and terrorist financing (ML/TF) risks related to the use of Virtual Assets and Virtual Assets Service Providers was finalised with the Financial Intelligence Office of the Republic of North Macedonia, in co-operation with the EU and Council of Europe joint Action against Economic Crime. During its last meeting the working group responsible for drafting the document had the opportunity to discuss the findings and recommendations provided by the Action for the improvement of the roadmap. During the meeting, representatives from the Financial Intelligence Office exchanged views on the proposed measures and addressed outstanding issues identified during the review process. The discussion contributed to a clearer understanding of the proposed measures and supported ongoing efforts to develop an effective system for the mitigation and management of the ML/TT risks related to virtual assets and virtual assets service providers in North Macedonia.

The Roadmap takes into consideration the findings of the National Risk Assessment of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing related to virtual assets, as well as the recommendations contained in the MONEYAL Mutual Evaluation Report on the Republic of North Macedonia, this Roadmap aims to provide a strategic approach for North Macedoniain addressing the identified threats and risks and sets out the activities to be undertaken in the upcoming period.

Based on the recommendations and discussions during the meeting, the representatives of the working group will amend the document and submit it to the National Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing Council for adoption and further implementation.

This initiative is implemented by the “Action against economic crime in North Macedonia”, within the framework of the European Union/Council of Europe joint Programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye”.

Skopje, North Macedonia 19 June 2026

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The Action against Economic Crime in North Macedonia (AEC-MKD) is implemented within the joint programme of the European Union and the Council of Europe “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye” running from January 2023 until December 2026. It aims to strengthen the capacity of the public institutions in preventing and combating economic crime, including corruption, money laundering and organised crime.

What is the goal(s) and objective(s) of the action?

The overall objective of the action is to enhance capacities of public actors to ensure rule of law and governance by effectively preventing and addressing economic crime, particularly corruption, money laundering and terrorist financing.

The action will focus on supporting the authorities in several directions including:

1. Improved legal and operational framework on preventing and combating corruption;

2. Enhanced AML/CFT prevention mechanisms and

3. Enhanced capacities of authorities to conduct financial investigations.

The proposed action will contribute to address strategically important remaining vulnerabilities, which impact the effectiveness of the AML/CFT regime.

Who benefits from the action?

Public Authorities: Financial Intelligence Office, State Commission for Prevention of Corruption, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Justice, supervisory authorities, Law Enforcement Agencies,

Private sector-obliged entities by Law

Ultimately citizens of North Macedonia.

How does the action work?

It builds upon the results achieved and lessons learned during the implementation of Phase I and II of the Horizontal Facility by continuing its support to effective implementation of key recommendations of the Council of Europe’s monitoring mechanisms: Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) and the Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism (MONEYVAL).

The action will adopt a multifaceted approach consisting of:

providing expert advice and recommendations for improvement of the regulatory and operational frameworks;
strengthening institutional capacities to address economic crimes through training sessions, workshops and other capacity building methods, and
c) strengthening inter-agency and international co-operation in addressing economic crimes.

What do we expect to achieve?

The action aims to ensure:

Improved capacities of public institutions to ensure rule of law and governance by effectively preventing and addressing economic crimes, particularly corruption, money laundering, and terrorist financing. This will be achieved through important measures including improved legal and operational framework on preventing and combating corruption, enhanced anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing prevention mechanisms, and enhanced capacities of authorities to conduct financial investigations.
Reduction in the incidence of economic crimes, increased transparency and accountability in public institutions, and strengthened public trust in the government's ability to combat economic crimes is expected to be achieved.

What is the budget of the action?

The total budget of the action is 835.000,00 Euros.

The budget allocated to the overall Horizontal Facility programme amounts to ca. 41 Million EUR (85% funded by the European Union, 15% by the Council of Europe).

How to get more information?

More information regarding the Action against economic crime can be found on the following websites

About Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye

The “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye” is a joint initiative of the European Union and the Council of Europe that enables the Western Balkans Beneficiaries and Türkiye to meet their reform agendas in the fields of human rights, rule of law and democracy and to comply with the European standards, which is also a priority for the EU enlargement process.