VMRO-DPMNE announced it is proposing criminal charges against the director of the Innovation Fund and SDSM party propaganda chief Kosta Petrov.

Petrov was asked about a contract to produce promotional videos, even though, as was a pre-election pledge from the SDSM party, all PR campaigns ran by public institutions are now banned. When asked about the fact that he is continuing the programs initiated by his predecessor Jovan Despotovski, and adding new PR campaigns, Petrov acknowledged that that is a crime and sarcastically said “I am sorry?”

The institution is meant to provide grants to companies and individuals who come up with innovative technological solutions, but under SDSM it became a thinly disguised party slush fund, awarding contracts to journalists and politicians linked to the party, even to a company that is part of Prime Minister Zoran Zaev’s family businesses.

In 2017 the Government led by Zoran Zaev ordered all central public institutions and recommended to all municipal institutions to stop broadcasting public relations videos on private media outlets, TV and radio, newspapers, billboards and news sites. The Government appoints the manager of the Innovation Fund, and he is bound by this decision, said VMRO-DPMNE spokesman Dimitar Arsovski, who got the original sarcastic comment out of Petrov during their debate.