Macedonia Builds Another Mother Teresa Memorial

Macedonia is paying some 5.6 million euro to the construction firm Beton from Skopje to build a 32-metre-high complex dedicated to the famous nun on the capital's main square over the next 18 months.

The construction work, which is part of the authorities' grand revamp of the capital called 'Skopje 2014', is starting even though the plan for what it will look like has never been made public.

Apart from the contracts signed by the Ministry of Culture, BIRN was unable to obtain more information on the likely appearance of the complex.

The money for the memorial was originally planned to come from the Indian billionaire Subrata Roy who in 2012 and 2013 was a frequent guest of the Macedonian government and who announced several big business ventures before getting into legal trouble back home.

From the scant information released so far, it appears that the "building with a sculptural composition", as the authorities formally call it, has been designed by Valentina Stefanovska and Kiril Mukaetov.

Stefanovska is by far the most prolific and best-paid artist involved in the Skopje 2014 project.

She designed the giant equestrian sculpture of Alexander the Great in the middle of the city's central square and a similarly sized one of his father, Philip of Macedon, which is located nearby. A triumphal arch called Macedonia, also in the central area, is another of her designs.

The ground-laying ceremony for the complex took place some time ago in January 2013, when Subrata Roy was still expected to finance it.

"No matter what we do, we can never do enough for Mother Teresa," Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski said in a speech at the time.

Skopje already has a bronze statue of the nun, as...