Zoran Zaev needs to explan the extent of his links with Den Doncev, said VMRO-DPMNE Vice President Aleksandar Nikoloski, after audio leaks revealed that Doncev was extorting money from a medical company in coordination with Zaev. Doncev recently resigned as head of the FZOM public healthcare fund which handles hundreds of millions of euros in payments to public and private healthcare providers, after he was accused of using his position to extort money from a dialysis provider. On top of the audio leaks, video leak revealed Doncev taking money from a person.

Zoran Zaev needs to explain his links to Doncev in light of the racketeering that is obvious to the entire public. This is the first time we’ve seen a politician filmed taking money. Did Zoran Zaev try to give Doncev amnesty by allowing him to retire from his position without an investigation? What role did Zaev’s lawyer Filip Medarski play in the scandal?, Nikoloski said.

Twice in his life Doncev came back from Australia, where he lives, to take positions in a Macedonian Government, and both cases ended up with numerous corruption allegations. He was initially a telekom official appointed by the Ljubco Georgievski Government but in 2017 he crossed party lines to join Zaev – who is his childhood friend from the village of Murtino near Strumica – and took up a position in the hugely important FZOM fund.

In the Racket 2 scandal, Doncev is accused of pressuring the Diamed dialysis provider, demanding it pays a bribe so that he approves the regular payments for the services it provided under contract to FZOM. Diamed owners filed charges against Doncev and Healthcare Minister Venko Filipce, who also allegedly pressured the company. Both tried to block the sale of Diamed to the Swedish Diaverum company, trying to force the owners to sell the business to a different company using police raids and threats of criminal investigations, and once they failed, they allegedly demanded a cut of the sale price.

Zaev denied involvement in this latest scandal, claiming that the recording is manipulated. He insisted that Doncev was discussing a different business deal, in which a company whose owner is close to him was in a dispute with his business partner represented by Zaev’s lawyer Medarski. Zaev insisted that there is nothing problematic in the conversation.