Following the corruption investigation over his Topolki hydro plant project, Deputy Prime Minister Koco Angusev is in the hot seat over another dam. The opposition VMRO-DPMNE party asked the Anti-Corruption Commission to investigate if Angusev influenced the Government to receive 2.000 square meters of publicly owned land.

On January 28th 2019, Zoran Zaev concluded a direct contract with the Padaliska hydro plant company and granted 2.000 square meters to it. The company is owned by his Deputy Prime Minister Koco Angusev. Angusev told the public that he will not compete for public contracts with his companies while he is in the Government, but we see he is doing the exact opposite, said VMRO spokesman Dimitar Arsovski.

As in the case of Topolki, where it was alleged that the Government approved a change in the contract allowing Angusev to have more time to complete the project, the Deputy Prime Minister defended himself by saying that the initial contract was signed before he was part of the Government. He insists that he didn’t influence the subsequent decisions, made while he was part of Zaev’s cabinet, that are favorable to his company.