Scandal with communal agricultural subsidies at North Macedonia with police arresting the director of the state-run National and Community Aid Payments Agency for Rural Development, Ilia Stoilev, on charges of embezzlement.
Stoilef, who is from the ruling party VMRO-DPMNE, is said to have agreed with a former minister in North Macedonia to receive the sum of 50,000 euros to approve Community agricultural subsidies to an agricultural business owned by the latter.
The financing comes from Community funds, specifically from the IPA/IPARD program of the European Union, which supports actions for rural development in candidate countries for accession.
The head of this Organization of North Macedonia was arrested while receiving 400 euros, which are considered “advance payments” of the total amount. Four more people have been arrested for the same case. All five arrested were remanded in custody.
Beneficiaries of these community aids are mainly farmers, breeders and investors in the agricultural sector, as well as manufacturing companies.
After the revelation of the scandal, the government of North Macedonia announced the indefinite suspension of all funding from EU funds to the beneficiaries of the EU program, until the investigation of the case is completed.
Prime Minister Christian Mickoski said the suspension was deemed necessary to check all possible illegalities, as there are suspicions that similar practices have occurred in the past.
The opposition Social Democratic Party (SDSM) accused Mickoski’s government of “widespread corruption”, warning that the country risks losing around 100 million euros of EU funds for the agricultural sector, while adding that thousands of the country’s farmers will be left without these EU subsidies.
This party also argued that the decision to suspend funding actually came from the EU itself and not from the government of Hr. Mickoski, at the same time asking for the resignation of the Minister of Agriculture.
Responding, Mickoski stressed that the European Union has not blocked funds for the agricultural sector in North Macedonia, arguing that the initiative for a temporary suspension was a government decision, which was even welcomed by the European Commission.
For its part, the EU delegation in North Macedonia stated that the European Commission has requested additional information from the relevant institutions of the country and added that the EU reserves the right to take preventive measures to protect its economic interests.
Diplomatic sources said that the involvement of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) in the investigation is not ruled out and that if illegalities regarding the allocation of EU funds are found, North Macedonia may be forced to return money to the EU.