English
Agriculture Minister Cvetan Tripunovski called for a full investigation in the corruption case in the Agency for support of agriculture and rural development, after its head Ilija Stoilev was arrested with several hundred EUR in bribes.
Stoilev allegedly sought 50,000 EUR in bribes to approve payment of subsidies to the ineligible company of a former Government Minister – turned agriculture developer. The claimant reported the case to the police. If approved, the funds would have come from EU’s IPARD program. Several other Agency officials and individuals were charged along with Stoilev.
This Government shows that it is fighting against corruption in a non-selective manner. This was not the case in the past, when the Government would try to cover up crimes. I encourage the relevant institutions to investigate this case to the end because that is the only way to prevent similar cases from happening in the future. I also call on all citizens who have indications about similar cases to report them, said Minister Tripunovski.
He added that the agency is an independent institution from the Ministry.
