MACEDONIAN STOCK EXCHANGE
Dr. Evgeni Zografski
Chief Executive Officer
A stable inflation rate
and a fixed foreign
exchange rate of the
euro created the needed
conditions for
sustainable economic
growth.
The macroeconomic environment in the
Republic of Macedonia in 2003 was more
favorable than in 2002. A stable inflation rate of
around 3% and a fixed foreign exchange rate of
the euro, with further financial and fiscal
stabilization, created the needed conditions for
sustainable economic growth in the next few
years. This environment, combined with the
well-established legal and institutional securities
market infrastructure, had a positive impact on
the development of the Macedonian securities
market in 2003.
The main features of the Macedonian Stock
Exchange (MSE) operations in 2003 are as
follows:
• the listing of 100 companies with a market
capitalization of around EUR 290 million (7% of
the GDP), showed an increase of 35% in
market value as compared with 2002;
• a significantly higher volume of trading in
listed government bonds, with turnover of three
government bonds 78% higher than in 2002;
• the launch of a new MSE trading platform to
sell residual government shares in 230
companies for a turnover of EUR 24 million);
• a 7.7% increase in the MBI index, which
reached 1178 points.
HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT
The Macedonian Stock Exchange (MSE) was
founded on 13 September 1995 and
commenced trading on 28 March 1996, as a
central marketplace for trading in securities and
the first organized exchange in the Republic of
Macedonia.
The MSE was founded as a joint-stock
company and initially had 19 members. Since
1997, MSE members can only be legal entities
(brokerage houses) licensed by the
Macedonian Security and Exchange
Commission whose sole activity is trading in
securities, with headquarters in the Republic of
Macedonia. Due to these changes, the number
of MSE members decreased to 7. Starting in
2002 banks may become members of the MSE
and trade securities on the market.
International cooperation with the other stock
exchanges in the region during 2003 was
intensified. Memorandums of Understanding
were signed with the stock exchanges of
Thessalonica, Belgrade, Zagreb and Bulgaria,
thus marking the process of closer cooperation
between the exchanges and the securities
market participants.
An information portal site (www.sem-on.net) for
trading systems of the Macedonian Stock
Exchange and the stock exchanges of
Ljubljana, Varazdin, Sarajevo, Belgrade and
Podgorica was completed, thus enabling direct
and simultaneous access to information about
the trading activity in these markets as well as
providing vital information necessary for
investing in securities in the region of southeast
Europe. This internet portal covers information
on more than 170 market participants and
approximately 2000 securities with a combined
market capitalization of around EUR 14 billion.
FUTURE OUTLOOK
Beginning on 20 June 2001, the MSE now
operates on a for-profit basis with a founding
capital of EUR 500,000. Shareholders of the
Exchange may be any legal and private
domestic or foreign entity. Shareholdings per
entity are limited to 10% of the outstanding
shares; currently there are 20 shareholders.
Shareholders, at their meeting on 25 December
2003, issued 10% of its outstanding shares to
the Athens Stock Exchange. The procedure for
the execution of this issue is underway.
The MSE currently has 14 members. Since
2000, the initial share capital of each MSE
member must be at least EUR 75,000 and the
liquid capital must be EUR 15,000. In order to
get a full license as a broker-dealer, a
brokerage company must have at least
EUR 500,000 share capital.
Plans are to:
• further adjust Macedonian securities
legislation to be in line with EU directives;
• list 40-50 companies with a combined
market capitalization of EUR 250 million;
• confirm the government residual shares
offering will go through the pension funds;
• implement pension reform;
• enforce obligations of the listed companies
for disclosure of price sensitive information
and financial data;
• create development prospects for listed
companies by providing the possibility to raise
new capital on the MSE and other developed
stock exchanges in the region;
• fully implement the project for informational
linkage of the stock exchanges from the
former Yugoslavia (Ljubljana, Varzadin, Banja
Luka, Sarajevo, Belgrade, Podgorica and
Skopje);
• intensify activities aimed at regional
cooperation among stock exchanges;
• increase trading volume with government
bonds,
• investigate the possibility of selling market
data to international data vendors,
• promote the new MBI Index whose goal is a
more realistic view market performance; and
• promote new products: BESTNET (market
watch in real time) and SEINET.
FEDERATION OF EURO-ASIAN STOCK EXCHANGES YEARBOOK 2003/2004
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