In the Ministry of Political System and Inter-Community Relations, headed by Artan Grubi, 354 people have been working for years, while this year, according to the budget proposal, this number could be increased by 69, which means that a total of 423 will work there. In addition to them, the Ministry also pays additional workforce, writes BIRN Macedonia, reports Nistori.

During 2022 alone, over 40 times, through the two copyright agencies “Artpik” and “Licenca MK 2000”, different amounts were paid: from 22,000 denars to over 300,000 denars per month for “other contractual services”, which is a figure with which freelance engagements are mostly conducted, writes “Prizmat”.

In the text entitled “secret payments in the Ministry of Artan Grubit”, BIRN writes that through these two agencies, a large number of state institutions, ministries, the Government, but also state agencies and enterprises hire additional employees.

BIRN calculated that on this basis alone, the Ministry paid around 160,000 euros in one year, last year to be precise.

For example, on March 9, over 14,000 euros were paid in three transactions. In December, 12,000 euros were paid in three transactions. Three times in January, four times in February, three times in March… said BIRN.

The text says that in addition to the budget item for other contractual services, the Ministry also paid for consulting services. The agency “D-M Consulting Group” was hired for that. In one year, a total of 7,600 euros “passed” through it.

From the public records of the Ministry of Finance, it can be seen that there is a history of engagement of agencies through the Ohrid Framework Agreement Implementation Secretariat long before this institution was transformed into the Ministry of Political System and Inter-Community Relations.

From 2016 until today, almost 280,000 euros have been paid through the “MK 2000 license” agency. The “Tag Communications” agency is also on the list for payment through the Secretariat. She has been engaged only since 2015 and under the code “other contractual agreement” and was paid royalties in the amount of 340,000 euros, said BIRN.

BIRN requested copies of the invoices issued by the Ministry for this purpose from the Ministry managed by Artan Grubi, but the Ministry sent almost empty invoices.