VMRO-DPMNE spokesman Dimitar Arsovski strongly condemned the move by the SDSM led Government to use its powers under the coronavirus state of emergency, to issue yet another licence for the planting of a marijuana plantation. The recipient of the approval is Pero Stojcev, son of Boro Stojcev, the former SDSM appoined Mayor of the rural municipality of Novo Selo, who had to resign after he was arrested in July 2018 smuggling cigarettes to neighboring Bulgaria. Stojcev, who has since been nicknamed “Boro Marlboro”, resisted the arrest attempt with his family members and was armed during the incident.

But, being an ally of SDSM party leader Zoran Zaev, who as a long term mayor of near-by Strumica, Stojcev received a sentence of just 6 months in prison, while his son and nephew were sentenced to three months. As free men, they now applied for a marijuana growing licence, which is a business favored by Zaev’s family and his cronies. Their application was pre-approved in January, but with the coronavirus crisis, it was eventually approved with a decree issued by the Government, using powers given to it to tackle the epidemic.

This is how much Zaev and SDSM care about fighting the epidemic. They dpn’t care about the citizens, they care about issuing marijuana licences, including to Pero Stojcev, the sonof the sentenced smuggler Boro Stojcev, naturally a person closely linked to Zoran and Vice Zaev. All this gang cares about is their businesses, Arsovski said during a TV debate.

Marijuana production grew exponentially under Zaev, ostensibly in order to produce cannabis oil for exports. But the heavy international scrutiny focused on the business revealed that the oil production is not going well at all, and before the epidemic the Government was considering legalizing the sale of dried marijuana for smoking.