After a series of scandalous contracts that went to unsuitable contractors, Lidija Dimova, head of the agency managing European Union linked education and mobility programs, faces calls for resignation and an investigation.
VMRO-DPMNE spokesman Dimitar Arsovski today pointed to the purchases of two luxury vehicles worth nearly 90,000 EUR as the last straw and called on Dimova to resign from her position. Earlier reports showed that she paid 270,000 EUR to a hair salon whose owner, a friend of hers, claimed to perform educational services to students. The allegations come at a very bad time for Dimova, as Macedonia hopes to open EU accession talks by the end of the year, and the corruption includes EU funding.
State prosecutors need to act. For three years there have been public reports of abuse and corruption on the part of Lidija Dimova. Giving 270,000 EUR to a hair salon to conduct a workshop on media literacy? In 2017 the salon earned just 3,000 denars for the year, but in 2018, once Dimova’s contracts started flowing, it registered earnings of 2,7 million denars, Arsovski said.
The purchase of the luxury Passat and Tiguan vehicles especially riled the public as Dimova was an outspoken activist in the SDSM party lead Colored Revolution and demanded the arrest of then Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski for the purchase of an armored Mercedes, used to transport high ranking foreign dignitaries who visit Macedonia.
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