English
Agriculture Minister Cvetan Tripunovski accused the SDSM party and his predecessor Ljupco Nikolovski of generating corruption in the agriculture sector during their term in power. Nikolovski has been accusing the Government after the top head of the agency approving IPARD fund grants has been arrested for corruption.
I see that he is very vocal in the public and is trying to manipulate this case. He is in fact likely one of the most criminal ministers we’ve had. I have launched a series of steps to examine his work after assuming office, Tripunovski said about Nikolovski.
According to Tripunovski, in Nikolovski’s term the work of the IPARD agency was completely ignored and a politicized commission was formed in the Ministry that was awarding grants worth 800,000 EUR.
Prime Minister Mickoski today also warned SDSM not to use the arrests in the IPARD agency for scoring political points. “As a Government, we are united on the issue that deviant behavior will face immediate reaction. This is true fight against crime and corruption. All who were involved ended up where they belong. The opposition holds press conferences in the question form – they ask “is Hristijan Mickoski involved?” If they are so sure, let them come out and make definitive statements. What they are doing now is cowardice. I absolutely reject all their allegations. Let’s see if the investigation reaches some of their own former officials, Mickoski said.
