Businessman Kushtrim Smajlaj, who is married to Ali Ahmeti’s daughter Uskana, made 12 million EUR in revenue and 2.5 million EUR in profits last year, even though it was the first year in which his company was operational. Ahmeti was confronted with this latest example of cronyism during his 360 interview.

I think there are several companies there and that it is not entirely owned by Kushtrim. You can do your own research for more details. I can’t forbid anybody in my family to go into business, Ahmeti responded.

The KSA International company was set up in 2022 by Erxhan Sulkoski and Smajlaj entered the company as a partner, before Sulkoski left it. Sulkoski is co-owned of the major oil trader RKE, along with Ratko Kapushevski. This company was named in scandals involving import of dangerous heating oil, which requires having powerful contacts in the Government to turn a blind eye.