The first restaurant with Roma cuisine in the center of Thessaloniki is open in February 2023! Amalin is the culmination of long-term efforts of the Association of Roma from Dendropotamos to integrate women into society who belong to vulnerable groups of the population and are looking for a way out. Amalin is the first non-profit Roma restaurant in the second city of Greece, cooked and served by women from the Dendropotamos neighborhood. It is located in the area of Karaoli and Dimitriou streets, in the Diikitirio area.

"It was a lifelong dream for us. The association has been fighting for inclusion and promotion of good practices for 20 years. What could be better than highlighting the traditional Roma cuisine", said the head of the effort, the president of the Association of Roma from Dendropotamos, Giannula Maga. Roma cuisine is special

According to her, in a conversation with TV100 in the show Check in events, Roma cuisine is special and worth trying, and at the same time a restaurant will support this important project of the community.

"It is the best way to show society that we are part of it. That we are not invisible. Roma women will work in the restaurant. When I say socially vulnerable, we are also talking about ex-prisoners. We will give them an incentive to find their way," she stressed.

The delicious menu list is: Stuffed lamb, herb romaine stew and special pilaf are expected to be standout dishes.

A Macedonian family needs a minimum of around 1,000 euros to be able to survive the month, and if they don't have their own home and pay rent, then they don't even have 73 thousand denars to cover basic expenses.

The gap between the income and the needs of the citizens has increased drastically in the past 14 years, but the most dramatic growth is in the last two years. In January 2022, the consumption basket amounted to MKD 35,811.(580 eurs) In January 2024, it exceeded MKD 57 thousand. That's a price increase of almost 60 percent in 24 months. At the same time, it should be noted that the structure of the basket has been changed since December 2023, and in the revised one, new costs have been introduced that were not part of the previous ones.

If it is taken into account that in November 2023, according to the latest calculations of the State Statistics Office, the average monthly net salary paid per employee was MKD 38,359, (620 euros) then a family of four, with only one employee, lacks over MKD 19,000 (310 euros) to can survive.

The minimum costs of over 73 thousand denars for a family living on rent can only be met on the condition that two people in the family work and receive a salary of about 36 thousand denars (600 eurs). Given that the minimum wage in the country is 20,175 denars (330 euros), money is only available for food and overhead costs, and there is rarely a denar left over to meet other needs.

For comparison, in December 2010, when the Union of Trade Unions of Macedonia (SSM) first published data on the trade union basket, it weighed 29,199 denars (500 euros), and the December average net salary was 21,454 denars (350 euros). The difference between the basket and the average salary 14 years ago was MKD 7,745.(125 euros)