The US Treasury Department issued a list of new individuals and companies from the Balkans, including Macedonia, who are placed on their black list. The list includes Russian-Macedonian businessman Sergey Samsonenko, but also, notably, a mention of former Prime Minister Zoran Zaev.

Samsonenko, his wife Irina and the mother of his business partner Jordan Kamcev – Ratka Kunoska Kamceva – were put on the list along with a number of companies owned by Kamcev and co-owned by Samsonenko. Jordan Kamcev was already put on the list.
According to the statement, “Samsonenko, Irina, and Kamceva are being designated pursuant to E.O. 14033 for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, Jordan Kamcev, a person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to E.O. 14033”. The allegations refer to a politically motivated trial in which former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski was accused of trying to purchase land on Skopje’s Mt. Vodno with the help of Kamcev. Gruevski is also on the list.

The new additions to the list also include politicians and businessmen from Bosnia’s Republika Srpska, from Serbia and from Montenegro. This latest entry includes Montenegrin businessman Miodrag Davidovic – Daka. He became well known in Macedonia in 2020, when it was revealed that he is deeply involved in corrupt dealings with then Prime Minister Zoran Zaev and his chief of staff Dragi Raskovski. A leaked audio recording showed Davidovic in talks with Zoran Milevski – Zoki Kiceec – a well known mobster close to Zaev’s regime. In the conversation, Kiceec offers to arrange a new meeting between Davidovic and Zaev/Raskovski, but the Montenegrin businessman angrily says that the two will likely try to get more money out of him – ostensibly to finance their campaign for the name change referendum.

In exchange for the money, Davidovic was trying to get approval for a major residential and commercial development in the city of Tetovo, atop the former SIK Jelak furniture factory. Even after the secretly recorded tape was revealed, and VMRO-DPMNE Vice President Aleksandar Nikoloski presented to the public the background of the entire scandal, Zaev continued to push for this development, and eventually had the Tetovo municipal council approve the construction. The deal eventually fell through when Zaev’s allied DUI party lost the local elections in Tetovo in 2021.

The US Treasury statement cites both Zaev and Raskovski as involved in the scandal. “He was also implicated in the scandal that led to the arrest of North Macedonia government Secretary General Dragi Rashkovski, a top lieutenant of former North Macedonia Prime Minister Zoran Zaev. Rashkovski allegedly received a bribe from Davidovic in order to have a meeting with Prime Minister Zaev to advance Davidovic’s business interests”, the statement claims – Raskovski is currently on trial but on lesser charges and is likely to avoid prison due to the recent changes to the law that greatly reduced penalties for abuse of office.

The US Government names Davidovic as an agent of Russian influence in Montenegro – and a scion of a smuggling business that includes cigarettes, oil and weapons.