Nikola Kljusev

1st prime minister of Macedonia

Никола Кљусев
Nikola Kljusev as prime minister promoting the first Macedonian currency in 1992
1st Prime Minister of MacedoniaIn office
March 20, 1991 – September 5, 1992PresidentKiro GligorovPreceded byNoneSucceeded byBranko Crvenkovski Personal detailsBorn(1927-10-02)October 2, 1927
Štip, Kingdom of YugoslaviaDiedJanuary 16, 2008(2008-01-16) (aged 80)
Skopje, MacedoniaPolitical partyVMRO-DPMNE (1997)

Nikola Kljusev (Macedonian: Никола Кљусев; October 2, 1927 – January 16, 2008) was a Macedonian politician and professor of economics who served as the first Prime Minister of the Republic of Macedonia (now North Macedonia) from March 20, 1991, to September 5, 1992, following the country's independence from Yugoslavia in 1991.

Early life and education

Nikola Kljusev was born in Štip, Kingdom of Yugoslavia (now North Macedonia), on October 2, 1927. He graduated from the University of Belgrade's Faculty of Economics in 1953, before obtaining his doctorate in economics at the same university in 1964.[1] He was the best man of Jordan Mijalkov, the first interior minister of Macedonia.[2][3]

Economics

After graduating, Kljusev began his career as an assistant at the Institute for Industrial Scientific Research. In 1961, he switched to the Economics Institute in Skopje and later served as its director.[4] Kljusev became an associate professor of the University of Skopje's Faculty of Economics in 1968 before becoming a regular professor in 1972. He became the dean of the faculty in 1985, serving until 1987. Kljusev was elected as a member of the Macedonian Academy of Arts and Sciences (MANU) in 1988,[1] presiding over the Council of Demographic Research. He authored the books Koristenje na proizvodnite kapaciteti vo industrijata na SR Makedonija (The utilization of SR Macedonian industrial capacity; 1967) and Efektivnost na investicite vo industrijata na SR Makedonija (The productivity of industrial investments in SR Macedonia; 1969), and co-authored Ekonomske funkcije federacije (Economic functions of the federation; 1970), Antiteza (Anti-thesis; 1994), and Pogledi i promeni (Views and changes; 1995).[5] 

Politics

Kljusev became the first Prime Minister of Macedonia on March 20, 1991.[6] He contributed to the peaceful establishment of Macedonian statehood during the breakup of Yugoslavia and the Yugoslav Wars.[4] Kljusev was a non-partisan prime minister, and, thus, was not a member of any political party while in office.[7] The government under his leadership introduced the denar as Macedonia's new national currency, established an anti-inflation programme which fixed the currency to the German mark, created the Macedonian army, established an independent National Bank, introduced restrictive fiscal and monetary policies, imposed a wage freeze and a limited price freeze.[8][9] On July 1992, the deputies of the Macedonian Assembly voted for no-confidence in his government.[10] Branko Crvenkovski succeeded him as prime minister on 5 September.[11] He was elected President of the Council of VMRO-DPMNE in 1997.[1] Kljusev returned to public office as the Defence Minister, from 1998 to 2000, in the government led by Prime Minister Ljubčo Georgievski.[4] He advocated for Macedonia's accession into NATO, the deployment of NATO troops in Macedonia, and military cooperation with Albania.[5]

Death and legacy

Nikola Kljusev died in his home in Skopje, Macedonia, on January 16, 2008, at the age of 80.[12] His death was announced by MANU.[4] Macedonia's Assembly and MANU commemorated him.[13]

Kljusev was buried in the Alley of the Great at the Butel cemetery in Skopje,[14] following a funeral officiated by the head of the Macedonian Christian Church, Archbishop Stephen of Ohrid. The government of Macedonia declared January 18, 2008, as a national day of mourning.[15] His daughter and granddaughter established the foundation "Memorial Center Nikola Kljusev".[16] He was honoured posthumously with the Order 8-September by the Macedonian president Gjorge Ivanov in March 2011 for his contribution to the development of the independent Macedonian state.[17] The Municipality of Štip posthumously honoured him with the Order "Saint Nicholas" (St. Nikola) in December 2019.[18]

References

  1. ^ a b c Makedonska enciklopedija: A-LJ. MANU. 2009. p. 703. ISBN 9786082030234.
  2. ^ "Kljusev, Mijalkov, Gruevski: Blood is Blood and Power is Power". Meta.mk. November 29, 2015.
  3. ^ Fabio Mattioli (2020). Dark Finance: Illiquidity and Authoritarianism at the Margins of Europe. Stanford University Press. p. 46. ISBN 9781503612945.
  4. ^ a b c d "Macedonia's First PM Dies". Balkan Insight. January 17, 2008.
  5. ^ a b Wojciech Roszkowski; Jan Kofman (2016). Biographical Dictionary of Central and Eastern Europe in the Twentieth Century. Taylor & Francis. pp. 471–472. ISBN 9781317475941.
  6. ^ "Од Кљусев до Ковачевски". Nova Makedonija (in Macedonian). January 13, 2022.
  7. ^ Ramet, Sabrina; Hassenstab, Christine; Listhaug, Ola, eds. (2017). Building Democracy in the Yugoslav Successor States: Accomplishments, Setbacks, and Challenges since 1990. Cambridge University Press. p. 290. ISBN 9781107180741.
  8. ^ Mieczysław P. Boduszyński (2010). Regime Change in the Yugoslav Successor States: Divergent Paths toward a New Europe. JHU Press. p. 146. ISBN 9780801899195.
  9. ^ William Bartlett (2008). Europe's Troubled Region: Economic Development, Institutional Reform and Social Welfare in the Western Balkans. Routledge. p. 26. ISBN 9780415193504.
  10. ^ Janusz Bugajski (1994). Ethnic Politics in Eastern Europe: A Guide to Nationality Policies, Organizations, and Parties. M.E. Sharpe. p. 125. ISBN 9781563242823.
  11. ^ "Моделот на приватизација ја урна првата експертска влада?!". Nova Makedonija (in Macedonian). March 19, 2022.
  12. ^ "ACADEMICIAN NIKOLA KLJUSEV, FIRST PRIME MINISTER OF INDEPENDENT MACEDONIA, DIES". Macedonian Information Centre. January 18, 2008.
  13. ^ "Македонија се простува од академик Никола Кљусев". Deutsche Welle (in Macedonian). January 18, 2001.
  14. ^ "Академик Никола Кљусев погребан". Deutsche Welle (in Macedonian). January 18, 2008.
  15. ^ "Macedonia bids farewell to its first prime minister Kljusev". Makfax. January 18, 2008. Archived from the original on January 21, 2008. Retrieved January 18, 2008.
  16. ^ "Државниот имот подарен на фондацијата „Никола Кљусев" се изнајмува за медитации и тренинзи". 360stepeni (in Macedonian). February 1, 2019.
  17. ^ "Академик Никола Кљусев постхумно одликуван со орден". Radio Free Europe (in Macedonian). March 21, 2011.
  18. ^ "Штип постхумно го одликува првиот македонски премиер – сограѓанинот Кљусев". Meta.mk (in Macedonian). December 16, 2019.
Political offices
New title Prime Minister of the Republic of Macedonia
1991–1992 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Lazar Kitanovski
 Minister of Defense
1998–2000 		Succeeded by
Ljuben Paunovski
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