In light of the major scandal at the Oncology Clinic in Skopje, Prime Minister Dimitar Kovacevski tried to deflect responsibility by saying that the corruption – which involves stealing chemotherapy drugs – “does not have a political background”.

Still, while there are no clear reports from the state prosecutors’ office about the identity of the suspects, it is widely reported that the home of the former Clinic director Nino Vasev was raided. Vasev is an official of Kovacevski’s SDSM party. He would frequently attend party events and was close with former SDSM appointed Healthcare Minister Venko Filipce. Vasev would also host Zoran Zaev’s wife, Zorica, for charity events – meant to give wigs to the patients. This “charity” activity is now seen in a new light, as it was going on while, according to the allegations, the patients were given water instead of the chemotherapy drugs, that were later sold on the black market to Kosovo. Ironically, some of the patients say that their first indication that something is wrong was when they would not lose their hair as result of the therapy.

Vasev had a co-manager, Nehat Nuhi, from the ruling DUI party. Allegations against him include indications that he had friends and even family members submit false cancer diagnosis, in order to obtain the drug, which they would later sell.