Transparency International Macedonia continues to carry out its regular monthly activities for monitoring cases and activities related to corrupt behavior and the fight against corruption, which we’ve named “Light & Dark”
The monitoring of these cases has received significant attention, both in the public sphere and among domestic and foreign relevant stakeholders, and over time, it has evolved into a relevant indicator for measuring corruption and assessing the government’s willingness to address this issue.
“DARK” OCCURRENCES FOR DECEMBER 2024
Grubi and Bedzeti saved Mijalkov from prison through Corruption – U.S. State Department Blacklists Former Deputy Prime Minister and DUI Official Artan Grubi and Appeals Court Judge Enver Bedzeti – According to a statement by the U.S. Department of State, both individuals were involved in “significant corruption” by accepting bribes to derail court cases against the former UBK director, Sasho Mijalkov. Mijalkov was among the first to be placed on the U.S. blacklist in 2022, also for corruption. The latest list includes members of Artan Grubi’s immediate family. Under the decision, Grubi and Bedzeti are barred from entering the U.S., and their visas, if any, will be revoked.
No Conflict of interest for Anti-Corruption Officer in case of ANB Director
The State Commission for the Prevention of Corruption (SCPC) stated that there was no conflict of interest in the case of ANB Director Bojan Hristovski, despite questions raised about anti-corruption officer Cveta Ristovska, who handled the case. Ristovska was a faculty member at the private “Skopje” University at the time, where Hristovski’s degree was challenged. After TV Telma inquired about a potential conflict of interest, the university temporarily removed and then reinstated Ristovska’s photo from its faculty listing. Ristovska declared during the SCPC meeting that the case was straightforward, based on a report from the Education Inspectorate.
Eight persons suspected of abuses during public procurement in the Directorate for TIRZ – the Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office Skopje, acting on a report from the Financial Police Administration, established a case and initiated proceedings against 8 persons due to reasonable suspicion that they committed a crime as co-perpetrators – Abuse of official position and authorization under Article 353 paragraph 4 in connection with paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code. In the course of the pre-investigation procedure, which the Financial Police Administration led in coordination and under the leadership of the competent public prosecutor, evidence was provided that in the time period 01.26-07.12.2022, the first suspect as an official – director of the Directorate for Technological Industrial Development Zones in Skopje, together with three officials in charge of implementing administrative control at the Public Procurement Bureau and four more people from the State commission for public procurement complaints, by not performing their official position, enabled a legal entity to obtain an illegal property benefit that exceeds a significant value of 622,981,190 denars.
State Audit Office identifies systemic weaknesses in Criminal Court
The State Audit Office released its final reports on the Basic Criminal Court in Skopje. Key findings include: Lack of accurate accounting documentation for the court’s old building and unregistered assets due to incomplete handovers; No records of seized funds, valuables, and other confiscated items, nor an inventory of these assets; The oversight commission failed to review deposit funds for 2023 or conduct comprehensive financial and operational audits; Absence of data on the status of judicial deposit cases completed or unresolved.
CCC: Ownership Registry data not used to combat corruption
The Center for Civil Communications, the Association of Tax Advisors, and Aktivo published an analysis on the use of ownership registry data in fighting corruption in North Macedonia. Findings revealed that authorities rarely utilize this data for money laundering and terrorism financing cases and fail to apply it to broader corruption prevention efforts. The Financial Intelligence Office and other institutions reportedly have inconsistent data on such cases.
Civil Organizations demand halt to amendments to Public Procurement Law
The Platform of Civil Organizations for Fighting Corruption called for the immediate suspension of proposed amendments to the Public Procurement Law, submitted to Parliament under expedited procedures on December 5, 2024. The amendments would abolish administrative oversight by the Public Procurement Bureau, a significant step backward in combating corruption. Instead of strengthening oversight in line with recommendations, the proposal removes control without justification, resembling a controversial old mechanism criticized by relevant institutions.
“LIGHT” OCCURRENCES FOR DECEMBER 2024
24 individuals cause Budget damage of over 1.5 million denars
The Financial Crime Unit filed charges against S.N. (40) from Skopje and 23 others for abusing their positions and concealing criminal activities. S.N., a financial associate in the Government’s General and Common Affairs Service, manipulated payroll calculations for forest police officers between November 2021 and April 2022. He inflated holiday work hours in payroll forms, despite knowing the employees did not work the claimed hours.
Indictment of the deputy VMRO-Pece Milevski from Bitola, as a director, DPMNE paid money for the performance of employees, and “Vodovod” worked with injuries – the Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office from Bitola indicted Pece Milevski, former director of the Bitola Public Enterprise “Vodovod”, current deputy from the ranks of VMRO-DPMNE, for abuse of official position. The indictment was submitted to the competent court for when he was acting director of the enterprise, for the continuation of the crime – Abuse of official position and authority from Article 353, item 3 in connection with paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code. “The accused, in 2022 and 2023 as acting director of a public company, overstepped the limits of his official powers and on several occasions paid additional funds for work performance to six different people employed in the company without a legal basis, despite the fact that the company was continuously operating at a loss.
Criminal charges against two former directors of the Innovation Fund – Criminal charges have been filed against two former directors of the Innovation and Technological Development Fund, Festim Halili and Kosta Petrov. In the first case, it is a project called “Green Hoyo”, co-financed by the Fund, which was to collect data through IoT devices to use a smart home solution to make a more energy efficient office/house/apartment. There is a well-founded suspicion that the Fund was damaged for 4,000,000 denars, because “abuse of official position” was committed by the former director Halili. The audit of FITR’s work resulted in another criminal complaint, also against the former director of the Fund – Kosta Petrov. In this case, it is a project of “Frotirka” from Delchevo financed by FITR, which was not completed, but was paid, and Petrov allegedly did not react accordingly.
Criminal charges against 12 Macedonian citizens and 1 foreigner for smuggling luxury vehicles, falsification of documents and abuse of official position – the Ministry of the Interior informed that after orders issued by a judge for preliminary proceedings and a public prosecutor in order to prove crimes related to crime with luxury motor vehicles, 10 searches were carried out on 10 people, of which seven are in Skopje, one in Dojran, one in Negotino and one in Bitola, during which six people were deprived of their freedom: K.S., N.P., M.S. and D.I. from Skopje, V.C. by Star Dojran and N.G. from Bitola. According to previously confiscated 5 vehiclesand collected material evidence, the Ministry of the Interior will submit a report to the Public Prosecutor’s Office against 13 persons, two of whom are former employees of the Ministry of the Interior, and one is still an employee of the Ministry of the Interior, where during the night and the morning the persons were brought before a judge at previous procedure.
Criminal charges against a police officer due to abuse of official position – the Department of Internal Control, Criminal Investigations and Professional Standards at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, to the Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office for Prosecution of Organized Crime and Corruption, Specialized Department for Prosecution of Criminal Offenses Committed by Persons with Police Powers and members of the Skopje prison police, filed a criminal complaint against D.M. due to the existence of grounds for suspicion of a committed crime “abuse of official position and authority”, punishable under Article 353 of the Criminal Code. The reported, police officer, performing work tasks as a documentarian, by exceeding his official authority, in September 2023 prepared an official act with false content, abusing the signature of the head of the Tetovo Police Station.
