Two statements from people who were, until recently, top Government officials, reveal that Macedonia is drowning deeper into crime, said VMRO-DPMNE member of Parliament Ana Lesoska. She pointed to the statement made by Branimir Jovanovik, who was top adviser to outgoing Finance Minister Dragan Tevdovski, as shocking evidence of the level of corruption in the Government. Jovanovik lamented the dismissal of Tevdovski and said that Zaev should have dismissed members of his Government who rigged contracts worth millions, later specifying he means Deputy Prime Minister Koco Angusev.

Imagine a situation where a Finance Ministry adviser raises allegations of rigged public contracts worth millions, and two days later there is no response from the state institutions. It is not VMRO-DPMNE saying this. This is an observation by Branimir Jovanovik, who was until recently an adviser in the Finance Ministry. It is also the observation by Deputy Education Minister Petar Atanasov, Lesoska said. She also named the comments from Atanasov, who wrote a scathing resignation letter to Zaev, blaming him for total lack of reforms in the education sector.

Angusev was frequently accused of diverting public contracts his way or creating favorable conditions for his companies. He was even allegedly under investigation in Greece, after a Greek state owned company bought one of his energy companies in the midst of the name issue talks.

Prosecutors need to begin an investigation and determine which contracts were begn rigged by Angusev. We also need to determine whether Zoran Zaev, Oliver Spasovski, Venko Filipce and other members of the Government were involved in this. The fact that Zaev is now a self-appointed Finance Minister is further proof that the crime is about to peak. We’ve all seen his system, how he distributes money with his brother Vice, Lesoska added, referring to the infamous bribery tape in which Zaev instructs a businessman interested in purchasing a piece of land in his hometown of Strumica to deposit hundreds of thousands in bribes with his brother Vice Zaev.