1.1 General information on municipality of Kavadarci
Kavadarci municipality is located in the southern part of Macedonia and belongs to the middle Povardarie region, penetrating the Tikvesh valley. It’s located in the southern part of the republic. The location of the municipality is marked with an orange color on the figure below.
Figure 1 Location of the municipality of Kavdarci
Source: State statistical office
It encompasses 1,132km2 with 55 settlements. By last census of 2002 the population is 37,189, which is 1.84% of the total population in the country. Considering the municipal area, the average population density is 32.85 inhabitants per km2. Since the last Census the population is growing and by municipal estimations the current number is above 40,000.
Kavadarci by the excavated archeological sites has been inhabited since the Neolithic. The features and settlements from ancient times and the middle ages are found here. The legacy of the medieval period is represented by the beautiful churches and caves. Most important rivers in this municipality are Crna Reka, Boshavica, Doshnica and Luda Mara, which flow through the main town of Kavadarci. There are also two lakes: the largest artificial lake in Macedonia – lake Tikvesh and Moklishte lake.
In 2010 the Kavadarci was declared the city of culture by the Ministry of Culture. The municipality is organizing traditional annual events including: 7th of September- Liberation day of Kavadarci,spring fair, paying tribute to the 12 murdered youth in Moklishte area, St.Trifun- protector of the wine and vineyards, Tikveshki Grozdober, and New Year celebration.
The climate could be characterized as modification of Mediterranean and mountain (dominant) with average annual temperature of 13.6°C. Average number of rainy days is 96 with average flow estimated at 461l/m2 observed mainly from October to December. August is the driest month with highest relative humidity of 55%. The Kavadarci city is located at an altitude of 230-270m.
Table 1: Basic climate characteristics
| Average annual air temperature | 13.6°C |
| Warmest month and mean monthly temperature | July, 24.7°C |
| Coldest month and mean monthly temperature | January, 1.5°C |
| Average annual maximum temperature | 19.1°C |
| Average annual minimum temperature | 7.9°C |
| Maximum measured temperature | 41.8°C |
| Minimum measured temperature | -23°C |
| Average annual number of summer days (temperature 25-30°C) | 126 |
| Average annual number of tropical days (temperature over 30°C) | 68 |
| Average annual number of frosty days (temperature below 0°C) | 65 |
| Average annual rainfall | 461l/m2 |
| Range of rainfall per year | 280-695l/m2 |
| Average number of rainy days | 96 |
| Driest month | August |
| Wettest month | November |
| Average annual air temperature | 13.6°C |
| Warmest month and mean monthly temperature | July, 24.7°C |
| Coldest month and mean monthly temperature | January, 1.5°C |
| Average annual maximum temperature | 19.1°C |
| Average annual minimum temperature | 7.9°C |
| Maximum measured temperature | 41.8°C |
1.2 Demographic and economic profile of municipality of Kavadarci
The population in Kavadarci is relatively young. The age structure shows that 7.09% of the total Kavadarci population is more than 65 years old, which is far below the macedonian average (11%). Distribution of population by sex is almost equal 50.02% female versus 49.98% male.
Table 1 Age distribution
| Number | Share | |
| 0-14 | 7,056 | 18.97 |
| 15-64 | 27,497 | 73.94 |
| Over 65 | 2,636 | 7.09 |
| Total: | 37,189 | 100 |
Source: 2002 Census
Table 2 Main demographic indicators
| Demographics | |
| Total population | 37,189 |
| Population growth 1994-2002 | 1.64 |
| Population density (inhabitants/km2) | 38.92 |
| Fertility rate | 2.1 |
| Number of households | 12,026 |
| Number of dwellings | 16,324 |
| Percentage of population living in dwellings connected to sewage | 95 |
| Percentage of households living in houses connected to district heating | 5.6 |
| Percentage of households living in dwellings with bath and toilets | 75 |
| Infrastructure | |
| Network of local roads | 300km |
| Number of basic health care facilities | 4 |
| Economy | |
| Number of private enterprises | 2400 |
| Number of public enterprises | 2 |
| Number of NGOs | 68 |
| Employment | |
| Employment rate | 95 |
| Rate of active working population | 68.7 |
| Unemployment rate(officially registered job seekers) | 5 |
| Rate of employed young people (up to 24y) | 25 |
| Public spending | |
| Expenditures per capita (MKD) | 5,950 |
| Health expenditures per capita (MKD) | 1,780 |
| Politics | |
| Number of voters, local elections 2017 | 32,697 |
| Number of municipal councilors, local elections 2017 | 19 |
| Number of female municipal councilors, local elections 2017 | 7 |
Source: 2002 Census
According to the ethnic affiliation most of the population is Macedonian (97.1%). Other ethnicities comprise only 2.9% including Roma, Turks and Serbs.
Table 4: Population by ethnic groups
| Number | Share | |
| Macedonians | 36,102 | 97.1 |
| Roma | 462 | 1.24 |
| Turks | 178 | 0.47 |
| Serbs | 296 | 0.79 |
| Vlachs | 17 | 0.05 |
| Albanians | 1 | 0.00 |
| Other | 122 | 0.33 |
Source: 2002 Census
1.3 Economic profile
Favorable natural geographic characteristics of Tikves region conditioned viticulture to have primacy in agricultural activities and to become leading in the country. Common economic activities of local population are agriculture, viticulture and wine production. According to data and findings of the survey on the business environment most companies are production oriented (especially wine) and only 15% are dealing with services. Wine production is mainly traditional but significant efforts for modernization have been undertaken in recent years. There are a few private wineries employing over 400 persons. The biggest is Tikves (over 200 employees), followed by Popov, Peca komerc, Kav komerc, Barovo and Lepovo. The biggest water producer Kozuvcanka employs about 100 persons, following by Gorska Company also as water producer.
Besides agriculture, major employers are metallurgy and metal processing industry. The ferro-nickel plant “Feni Industry” (900 employees) is located not far from the city in the free economic zone “Nickel valley”. Company “Feni Industry” is supplied with nickel from mine “Rzanovo”, which together with “Alshare” are the only mines in Tikves region rich in various kinds of ores. Other companies from the metal industry are “Metaleks”, “IGM Trade” (500 employees) and others. The biggest construction company in the municipality is “Gradba Promet” employing over 100 persons, following by “Urban invest”
The economic development of municipality has been accelerated by the construction of the plan for German car parts company “Dräexlmaier” that decided to invest EUR 30 million in construction of the production facility with the space of 53,000m2. Officially, the new production facility was launched on November 16, 2012 and presently 5,500 persons are employed (June 2015). New employment resulted in significant reduction of the unemployment rate in Kavadarci municipality. Another big company in municipality of Kavadarci that can be consider as big asset in the local economy is Alliance One working in the tobacco industry.
Kavadarci established and developed extensive cooperation with municipalities in other states. This international cooperation is accomplished not only through twinning with municipalities as a result of mutual socio-economic and cultural interests, but also through international contacts established at the state level.
The municipality was participating in IPA 2007-2013 program with the project on environment and natural resources protection. Together with municipalities from Greece as Edessa and Kilkis, Kavadarci municipality protects rivers passing through their geographical areas: rivers Vardar and Luda Mara. The main results of the project include creating IT platform and equipment for control of water pollution, and special infrastructure project to regulate the river Luda Mara. Moreover, this is just one example of the international cooperation that Kavadarci has done successfully as results of the implementation of the rich international program and connections with cities from Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey, Serbia, Bosnia, Poland, Hungary, Monte Negro and Croatia.
In Kavadarci municipality there are ten regular primary schools with 3,660 students, one primary music-ballet school and one extraordinary elementary school as part of the Workers’ University Kavadarci. There are three secondary schools: one gymnasium (with general and economic/legal profiles) and two vocational schools (electro-mechanical and forestry), where classes are attended by around 1,678 pupils.
Table 5: Number of pupils by school year
| 2013/2014 | 2014/2015 | 2015/2016 | 2016/2017 | 2017/2018 | |
| Primary schools | 3,674 | 3,674 | 3,324 | 3,335 | 3,261 |
| Secondary schools | 1,773 | 1,773 | 1,583 | 1,416 | 1,326 |
| Total: | 5,447 | 5,447 | 4,907 | 4,751 | 4,587 |
Source: Municipality Kavadarci