After he was removed from office Stojko Paunovski, director of the DPI product safety inspection service, said that he was ousted due to pressure from the office of First Deputy Prime Minister Artan Grubi. Paunovski, a personal friend of Zoran Zaev, refused to admit unqualified Albanian employees into his agency, which angered the Albanian officials in the Government who are crucial to propping up Zaev’s coalition.

This decision was expected for me, and in the spirit of the coming Easter holidays I can only say, forgive them, they know not what they are doing. There was no conflict between me and the Prime Minister. If there was any conflict, it was with the head of office of Deputy Prime Minister Grubi, Paunovski said.