
Parking for more than two hours at Diamond Mall is only paid for with a bill of over 400 denars, otherwise the ramps will not be raised.
The bill is also applied in other malls around the city, but the difference is that in "Diamond Mall", which by the way does not have a permit from the City of Skopje to charge, there is no other way to pay if the car remains parked for more than two hours, which is especially problematic for those who come to the mall for someone's birthday or celebration, and not to shop.
For a year now, Limak has not received permission from the Skopje City Council to charge for parking in the underground parking lot at Diamond Mall, and for the same period, it has been finding ways to regulate parking in its own space without doing so.
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First, even before the request for a permit to operate a parking business was before the councilors, the company introduced prices for each visitor who leaves their vehicle in the shopping center parking lot – 50 denars for an hour and the same for each subsequent hour if they stay longer to shop. A fine of 1.500 denars was also introduced for a lost or damaged ticket or if the car is parked outside a marked parking space. The parking lot, which has about 1700 parking spaces, was open from 8 a.m. to 1 a.m., which means that unauthorized charging was carried out for 17 hours a day.
This went on for months, in the meantime the councilors did not change their position, and the City of Skopje did nothing to prevent the illegal charging. Then, whether under pressure from the public or under pressure from the inspection, "Diamond Mall" raised the ramps at the entrances and allowed free parking.
The City of Skopje then indicated that inspectors went to the field and took action.
Regarding the granting of a permit to perform parking activities for the company "Limak" DOO Skopje, the Traffic Sector, in accordance with its competences, submits a Draft Decision for granting a permit to perform parking activities for the Construction, Trade and Services Company Limak DOO Skopje, to the City Council of Skopje at each session, which has not yet been adopted by the City Council of Skopje. Accordingly, the competent city inspectors have carried out an on-site inspection, and appropriate procedures are being initiated after irregularities are identified - the City of Skopje responded.

The latest "invention" regarding parking in the shopping center is the mandatory submission of a receipt of at least 400 denars if the car remains parked for more than the free two hours. Submission of a receipt for exemption from payment is also applied in other malls around the city, but the difference is that in "Diamond Mall" there is no other way to pay for parking. So, anyone who decided to just walk around the mall for two hours or came with a child to someone's birthday in the playroom or to a celebration in one of the restaurants, in order to leave with the vehicle afterwards must, like it or not, buy something in any store in the mall. Otherwise, there is no exit from the parking lot.
This procedure is causing outrage among mall visitors. One of them told us about his recent experience, when he visited the mall with his sister who was shopping, but he did not buy anything. When he reached the checkout counter, he was told that he had to present a receipt for 400 denars because his vehicle had been parked for more than 2 hours and that there was no other parking option.
According to him, this policy is anti-consumer and the shopping center is abusing its consumers.
First of all, the parking meters at Diamond Mall have not been operational for months, even though the mall has been open for a long time. Instead of providing these basic services, the mall is introducing policies that discourage walking and free use of the space. Has the mall been issued a permit in the meantime? If so, why are the parking meters out of service? At the moment, I don’t think there is a parking lot in Skopje, or in Macedonia, that is more expensive than this one. If parking for 2 hours and 1 minute costs 400 denars, that means that the price is effectively 200 denars per hour – a figure that is not only excessive, but also incomparable to other shopping centers in the city – says Stefan Nikolovski in his reaction.
He believes that this policy also violates the basic concept of a shopping center as a space that is open to all, which, in addition to shopping, should be intended for recreation, socialization, and relaxation.
Despite our request for a response from Limak, there has been no explanation so far as to why they are doing this when they do not have permission from the Council, because any way of regulating parking is performing an activity, regardless of whether the parking lot is their property.
The President of the Council, Trajko Slaveski, recently confirmed to "Sloboden Pechat" that according to the provisions of the Decision on Public Parking Lots of Importance for the City of Skopje, this activity cannot be carried out without a permit.
To perform a public activity of parking, a decision must be made by the City Council of Skopje. Such a decision has not been voted on twice. Furthermore, the City of Skopje, that is, the mayor and the services, need to act and implement it. Currently, the parking lot is being charged without permission from the Council - explained Slaveski.

The Decision on Public Parking Lots of Importance for the City of Skopje states that parking areas that are used for residential and business purposes and built-arranged within a construction plot or building that is privately owned are not permitted for commercial parking purposes.
As an exception, the parking lots referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article may be used and managed for commercial purposes, whereby the entity providing parking services must have a permit from the City of Skopje to perform the parking activity - as specified in Article 4, paragraph 3 of this Decision.
When such a permit is obtained, an agreement is concluded between the City of Skopje and the parking organizer, which, among other things, regulates the price of the service and the payment system.
The City Council of Skopje must give its consent to conclude such an agreement, but the councilors have not voted on the proposal for almost a whole year, among other things, as some of them have repeatedly explained from the podium, due to the arbitrary actions of "Limak".
The same problem is faced by the Construction and Services Company "AB-Imaret", which wants to operate a parking lot with access from Samoilova Street in Chair, then the company "Tineks-MT", which seeks to operate a parking lot with access from the side of Boris Trajkovski Street in Kisela Voda, and "City Plaza" LLC does not have a permit to charge for parking in the "Kapitol" shopping center in Aerodrom, where it also charges without a permit.
Diamond Mall has raised ramps for free parking after months of charging without a permit