Former Prime Minister Zoran Zaev came to the defense of his once deputy Koco Angjusev, after Angjusev was put on the US black list as a corrupt businessman who uses his influence to subvert investigations. Zaev was also named in a recent update on the US Treasury black list, not as a primary target, but as somebody who was involved in a corrupt deal with a Montenegrin businessman with ties to Russia.

Angjusev is my friend and colleague who I respect immensely. I asked him to join the Governemnt in 2017 and he worked for the Macedonian people and country, honestly, responsibly and with dedication. Today he has my support in his quest to prove that the doubts against him, expressed by our friends from the United States, are baseless, Zaev said in a written statement.

He added that the US are a strategic friend of Macedonia and that he is a friend of the United States, “which was confirmed publicly by top US officials”. According to Zaev, he is available to help clarify to the US the role that Angjusev played in any issue of their interest.

I publicly want to share my position that Koco Angjusev and his team were among the most dedicated and competent people in the Government while I was Prime Minister. A large share of the economic successes were directly to his credit. Macedonia does not have any such pepole, a professor and a successful businessman with enormous practical eexperience. As Prime Minister, it was my honor to have had such a colleague who put his country and the economy first, Zaev adds in his lengthy paean to to Angjusev.

Meanwhile, US Ambassador Angela Aggeler added to her damgning comments about Angjusev and the high level of corruption in Macedonia in general. In a press briefing, she said that the claims against Angjusev are “not doubts – we know exactly what he did”. Aggeler welcomed the proposal from the Government that all individuals who are put on a US black list automatically have a criminal investigation launched against them. The US ambassador said that Macedonia faces an “epidemic of corruption” that has greatly increased over the past decade. “The corruption is in every sector, every organization, and only by naming the corrupt actors we can begin to help this country. What is most confusing is that after each publication of a new name on the black list, nobody is surprised, not the citizens or the officials”, Aggeler said, adding that the US spent half a billion dollars on the rule of law and good governance in Macedonia over the past 32 years, only to get this dismal result.

Angjusev is a major energy trader who used his political influence to secure profitable deals, and owns the Brako company that was given a contract to build improvised Covic wards by the Healthcare Ministry. One of these wards burnt down in 2021, killing 14 patients and family members. He was accused of securing public grants to his own businesses, approving sale of state owned land to his energy producuing branch and influencing the issuing of import permits for dangerous heating oil. He successfully sued a US backed news outlet over this last claim, which prompted the Embassy to publicly support the outlet, and shortly after Angjusev and his family were put on the black list that prevents them entry to the United States.