In the period after the World War II, from 1945-1957, the roads in Macedonia were in an extremely bad condition. The first steps in the road renewal process were made by the new departments for roads, established in the cities of Skopje, Tetovo, Kumanovo, Veles, Stip, Bitola and Ohrid.

Operations of those departments were coordinated by the Republic Directorate of Roads, which was, among other responsibilities, in charge of keeping the roads passable and of the basic road network maintenance. The departments’ primary task was the renovation and reconstruction of some of the roads, which resulted in over 200 kilometers of modernized roads.

The period from 1958-1965 was marked by boost of activities. The first road construction program was adopted in 1966, showing that activities had begun to be planned on long-term basis, and most of the credit for that was to be given to then the Ministry of Transport and the Republic Directorate of Roads. In that period, the Directorate for Construction of “Brotherhood and Unity” Motorway, which extends across Macedonia in length of 162 km, was established.

In April 1965, the Republic Roads Fund was established, and by then 611 km of roads in Macedonia were constructed, reconstructed and modernized.

In 1966, all enterprises for road management were integrated in one enterprise, Makedonija Pat, and a five-year Program for Road Network Reconstruction until 1970 was developed. The investment functions for the Program implementation were in competence of Makedonija Pat until 1969, but in 1970 they were taken over by the Republic Roads Fund.

The Program anticipated a completion of 425.4 km in total, out of which 372.4 km were constructed and reconstructed until 1970, while the remaining 52 km were completed in 1972.

The road network renovation, however, did not stop there, and until 1975 intensive works were underway, resulting in 11 newly constructed road sections in total length of 537 km. In the same period, for the purpose of implementing the financial program, a Council for Road Construction, Maintenance and Reconstruction was established, in which a professional division was operating.

The primary task of the Council in the following period was the construction of the motorway “Brotherhood and Unity”. This momentous project was completed by 1980 thanks to a loan for roads and the participation of citizens from across the Republic. Besides this big project, additional 431 km of roads and remarkable 1,537 km of local roads were also constructed.

The implementation of the projects planned with the mid-term program for 1981-1986 was taken over by the newly established Republic SIZ (Self-Government Interest Association) for Roads. In this period, the SIZ took over the complete coordination of works related to roads construction, reconstruction and modernization. For that mid-term period, over 630 km of roads to villages were constructed and new road maintenance stations were placed at critical points.

While some roads were constructed with foreign loan funds in the period afterwards, the period until 1988 was characterized by road construction financed with own funds. For the very first time, revenues from tolls collected at the toll station on Kumanovo-Veles motorway section were used for that purpose. At about that time, the toll stations Kumanovo, Sopot and Otovica were also constructed.

Despite the outdated technology and minimum funds, the first steps in Macedonia’s road network investments and construction were successfully accomplished. Generally speaking, the road network development in the post-war period was successfully realized thanks to the great persistence of the SIZ for Roads.

In 1996, the Law on Public Roads was adopted, according to which the Fund for National and Regional Roads of the Republic of Macedonia was functioning from 1996 to 2008.
With the amendments to the Law on Public Roads of 11th July, 2008, the Agency for Public Roads was established as the legal successor of the Fund for National and Regional Roads of the Republic of Macedonia.

With the Law Amending the Public Roads Law of 27th December, 2012, the Public Enterprise for State Roads was established and took over the rights, responsibilities, employees, property, assets and archives of the Agency for State Roads.