VMRO-DPMNE will reveal details about the abuses involving the construction of the Global shopping mall in Strumica, and the deal with Makpetrol, both initiated by Prime Minister Zoran Zaev. In his interview with Netpress, opposition leader Hristijan Mickoski said that the build of Global, which burnt down last week in a major fire, was rife with irregularities and corruption.

The permit was issued ostensibly to reconstruct a farmers’ market. It took just one month to give the developer all permits he requested. And five days after the permit was given, the mall was miraculously completed, Mickoski said.

He noted that the developers who built Global have extensive business deals with Zaev’s own companies. Zaev was Mayor of Strumica at the time and pushed for the construction of the mall, which he now de-facto owns. Zaev was charged with corruption over the case, but received a pardon from President Branko Crvenkovski.

The questions that arise now is whether the developer followed the laws governing construction. It is required that every building has a project for fire protection. Was there one for Global? Who was hired to test the fire fighting equipment? Our group in Parliament will raise these issues. There is humanitarian moment, we all need to help the people who lost property in the fire, and they are not to be blamed for this disaster. But somebody didn’t maintain this mall according to regulations, and there is responsibility from day one of its build, Mickoski said. Zaev is now pushing for a solidarity fund to rebuild the mall and reimburse the shopkeepers, after the devastation it suffered in the fire, during which firefighters realized that the hydrants are not operational only after they entered into the blazing mall.

Regarding Makpetrol, the large gas station chain which received 33 million EUR from the Zaev regime as a settlement under a lex specialis, Mickoski said that the future VMRO-DPMNE led Government will revise the deal on day one and will initiate an investigation. Makpetrol received the money for its share of the GAMA pipeline that delivers Russian gas to Macedonia through Bulgaria. VMRO claims that Makpetrol’s share was both overestimated as a share of the pipeline, and overpaid above its realistic value. The Zaev regime pushed for a special law after Government official refused to sign a settlement deal with Makpetrol, realizing it is corrupt.

The public needs to be informed about what is happening here. We see attempts to twist the truth and misrepresent it. The company was estimated at 36 million EUR total. Split in half, it would be 18 million EUR. But the state paid over 32 milion EUR for half of the company, 14 million over its market price. Almost double. The deal Zoran Zaev made with Makpetrol is scandalous, Mickoski said.