Up to 80% of the cars in Eastern Macedonia have Bulgarian number plates and most of their owners have Bulgarian citizenship.

An article entitled " Bulgarian plates - Macedonian habit" from the Macedonian daily newspaper Spitz, comments that the purchase of cars with a Bulgarian registration number was a way to cope with the limitations of the new law for import of old cars as well as the more difficult registration process in Macedonia.

The owners claim that the expenses for registration are much less in Bulgaria where the procedure costs around EUR 100.

Anonymous Macedonian citizens expressed their indignation that Bulgarian citizens "not only don't pay as much as we do but they also use the Macedonian roads".

The situation causes anxiety among the Macedonian insurance companies. The offices in the eastern part of the country are constantly marking a downturn in the sale of insurance bills.

"Because of the crisis and the unification of the population and also because the increasing number of cars registered in neighboring Bulgaria, our offices in East Macedonia more and more rarely insure and register cars", explains Alexandra Nakeva from "Eurolink" insurance company stated.

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