Prime Minister Zoran Zaev defended his Secretary General Dragi Raskovski from allegations of corruption again, insisting that it’s “out of mind somebody would discuss bribes at a meeting with eight people”.

A leaked tape of Raskovski reveals the law faculty professor and Zaev’s right hand man discussing a public procurement contract with the Italian Leonardo company worth 7.7 million EUR to purchase air traffic control equipment. Anti-corruption activists and the press asked Raskovski what was he even doing at the meeting, why did he discuss who the likely winner will be, why was the bid accepted even though it was dated and about the series of racist slurs he also used. Zaev was himself twice charged with corruption, and on the famous leaked 2015 video tape where he heard asking for a bribe he was meeting with a businessman tête-à-tête.

What Raskovski did was done on the order of the Government and is within his competence, Zaev said today, after previously Raskovski also threw the ball toward the Prime Minister and told him that he attended the meeting on his orders. Zaev said that he was pushing to have the deal implemented and insisted that there was no wrongdoing in his or Raskovski’s actions.

Meanwhile, Nova TV reports that the Anti-Corruption Commission will open an investigation into Raskovski. The Commission will examine whether Raskovski was empowered by the Government to attend meetings on the planned procurement deal, and whether it is lawful to discuss the issue with representatives of the competing companies.