MACEDONIA: NEW MINISTER OF ECONOMY BRINGS LITTLE

UNCLAS SKOPJE 000057 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EUR/SCE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PINR MK SUBJECT: MACEDONIA: NEW MINISTER OF ECONOMY BRINGS LITTLE EXPERIENCE TO THE TABLE REF: SKOPJE 23 SUMMARY ¶1. (SBU) Junior governing coalition partner NSDP has named Predrag Trpeski to replace previous Minister of Economy Rafajlovska, who resigned on January 14 (reftel). Minister-designate Trpeski has served as Deputy Minister of Finance since September 2006. His relative youth and inexperience may add to the challenges his predecessor faced in trying to carve out an influential niche in the cabinet for the MoE in light of the dominant influence of Deputy Prime Minister Stavreski on key economic matters. End Summary. ¶2. (U) Following the January 14 resignation of NSDP's Vera Rafajlovska as Minister of Economy, the party unanimously named NSDP member Predrag Trpeski to replace her. Trpeski has served as Deputy Minister of Finance, a position with only minimal policymaking influence, since September 2006. Prior to his government service, he was an Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Sts. Cyril and Methodius in Skopje. He was educated at the same university, earning his M.A. in economics there in 2005. His academic research focused on labor market and unemployment issues. Born in 1976 in Gostivar, Trpeski does not bring much experience from outside the academic realm to his government service. He is fluent in English. Trpeski was recently married and has no children. ¶3. (SBU) Comment: Youthful and relatively inexperienced, Trpeski will face an uphill battle in trying to carve an economic policy niche for his ministry in PM Gruevski's cabinet. Given NSDP's lack of a strong "bench" on economic issues, however, Trpeski figured as the only NSDP candidate able to fill Rafajlovska's shoes. He is unlikely to be any more successful than his predecessor was in trying to offset the overwhelming influence on economic issues wielded by Deputy PM Stavreski, who is responsible for nearly all critical economic policy decisions in the Gruevski government. End Comment. MILOVANOVIC