Former Healthcare Minister Venko Filipce, who was once the rising star of the SDSM party, still has not commented on the major and gruesome scandal at the Oncology Clinic, where doctors and nurses are suspected of stealing expensive chemotherapy drugs and selling them on the black market.

Filipce was minister during the time when the thefts were allegedly going on. After building his public image during the Covid crisis – despite his bad mishandling of the epidemic – Filipce began to remove himself from the limelight following the disastrous fire at the Tetovo Covid hospital in 2021. After being removed from office with the resignation of Zoran Zaev, he became Zaev’s main confidant and companion.

He was widely rumored to be a serious candidate in the coming elections, provided that the Zaev wing of the party is in position to nominate candidates for top positions. But the recent revelations about the mishandling of the Tetovo fire investigation, and now the cancer drug scandal are making it more likely that Filipce will face investigation, rather than advance his political career.