COVID-19 and Trump’s indifference helped human rights abusers in 2020
Durov rejects Western funds’ offer to buy 5%-10% of Telegram with $30bn valuation
Belarusian government sees $2bn of withdrawals, issues $580mn worth of bonds in 2020
Lukashenko: I am no enemy of the people
One of Russia’s biggest wood product companies, Segezha could be Sistema’s next IPO
The volume of the Russian National Wealth Fund tops $183.93bn as gold overtakes dollar asset for first time
New Ukrainian VC firm QPDigital aims to invest up to $100 million in digital startups
EBRD investments reach record €11bn in pandemic-struck 2020
FPRI BMB Ukraine: Most Ukrainians are optimistic about 2021 – poll
OUTLOOK 2021 Lithuania
EBRD says loan to Estonia’s controversial Porto Franco project was never disbursed
Estonian premier quits after Tallinn development scandal
Top Centre Party official suspected of corruption in Tallinn real estate scandal
Czech Pirates and Mayors approve final coalition agreement for 2021 elections
OUTLOOK 2021 Czechia
BRICKS & MORTAR: Rosier future beckons for CEE retailers after year of change and disruption
Romanian tech entrepreneurs expand into banking sector
OUTLOOK 2021 Hungary
Hungarian government remains silent after Capitol riots
Storming parliaments: New Europe's greatest hits
World Bank expects modest recovery for Europe and Central Asia in 2021
FDI inflows to CEE down 58% in 1H20 but rebound expected
OUTLOOK 2021 Slovakia
Slovakia to invest €1.2bn in digitisation
BALKAN BLOG: The controversial recipe for building up Albania
Heavy flooding causes chaos in parts of Southeast Europe
Vodafone Albania plans €100mn infrastructure investments after AbCom merger
OUTLOOK 2021 Albania
Kyiv accuses Bosnian President Dodik of lying about icon gifted to Russian foreign minister
Bosnia’s real GDP contracts 6.3% y/y in 3Q20
Sofia-based LAUNCHub Ventures holds first close of new fund on €44mn
ING THINK: Growth in the Balkans: from zero to hero again?
OUTLOOK 2020 Bulgaria
Labour demand down 28% y/y in Croatia in 2020
Zagreb Stock Exchange's Crobex10 index at highest level since March 5
OUTLOOK 2021 Kosovo
Arrera Automobili aims to launch Albania’s first supercar
World Bank revises projection for Moldova’s 2020 GDP decline to 7.2%
Moldova’s PM resigns to prepare the ground for early elections
Socialist lawmakers in Moldova scrap settlement on $1bn bank frauds
Montenegro’s new ruling coalition carves up top state jobs
OUTLOOK 2021 Montenegro
Vast tide of floating waste threatens Balkan hydropower plants
North Macedonia's manufacturing confidence indicator down by 8.5 pp y/y in December
OUTLOOK 2021 North Macedonia
Transparency International warns of high corruption risk in CEE defence sectors
Moldova fears flooding from Ukraine's planned Dniester hydropower plants
Romania’s industrial recovery paused in November
OUTLOOK 2021 Serbia
Slovenia’s government to release funds to news agency STA after EU pressure
UK Moneyhub picks Slovenia for post-Brexit European base
Slovenia’s dire COVID-19 situation in 4Q20 caused second economic dip
Slovenia’s Eligma completes €4mn funding round
Turkish opposition leader lawsuit demands one lira from Erdogan, police probe “bald” interior minister posts
Akbank takes over Istanbul's Palladium Atasehir shopping mall
OUTLOOK 2021 Armenia
Armenia’s PM cautions conflict with Azerbaijan “still not settled” after trilateral meeting with Putin
COMMENT: Record high debt levels will slow post-coronavirus recovery, threaten some countries' financial stability, says IIF
Russia, Kazakhstan pushing for oil production increases on the back of coronavirus vaccine-fuelled oil price optimism
OUTLOOK 2021 Georgia
Georgia’s political kingpin Bidzina Ivanishvili quits politics
Modern-day “Robin Hood” inspires Georgians drowning in debt
Iran’s navy conducts missile drill while analyst argues Trump even capable of nuclear strike in final days
TEHRAN BLOG: Who’s more credible? Johnson backing Trump’s Nobel chances or Iran applauding arrest warrant for US president?
Central Asia vaccination plans underwhelm, but governments look unruffled
Fears of authoritarianism as Kyrgyz populist wins landslide and backing for ‘Khanstitution’
OUTLOOK 2021 Kyrgyzstan
Mongolia's winter dzud set to be one of most extreme on record says Red Cross
Mongolian coal exports to China paralysed as Beijing demands virus testing of truck drivers
Mongolia fears economic damage as country faces up to its first local transmissions of coronavirus
Mongolia in lockdown after suffering first local coronavirus transmissions
OUTLOOK 2021 Tajikistan
China business briefing: Not happy with Kyrgyzstan
OUTLOOK 2021 Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan: How the Grinch stole New Year
Turkmenistan: The dammed united
COMMENT: Uzbekistan is being transformed, but where are the democratic reforms?
OUTLOOK 2021 Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan’s Makro positions itself for growth in a more competitive market
Download the pdf version
More...
She was appointed to head investigations into top-level crime and corruption under North Macedonia’s previous administration, but former chief special prosecutor Katica Janeva is now on trial herself, accused of taking part in an operation to extort €1.5mn from one of the country’s richest men.
The Special Prosecution Office (SPO) was set up under the 2015 Przino Agreement brokered by the EU to end months of unrest in the Balkan country. Its purpose was to investigate allegations against current and former politicians, senior government officials and top businesspeople based on illegally wiretapped conversations between senior officials that were released by the then opposition Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM) — and dubbed the “bomb” because of their politically explosive nature.
Cases brought by the SPO and tried by the courts in North Macedonia resulted in investigations into former prime minister Nikola Gruevski — who fled the country to avoid serving a prison term — as well as other politicians who served under the conservative VMRO-DPMNE governments between 2006 and 2017, among them former interior minister Gordana Jankulovska, ex-transport minister Mile Janakieski and Gruevski’s cousin, ex-intelligence chief Saso Mijalkov.
However, in July it was sensationally revealed that Janeva herself was suspected of links to two men detained in a case dubbed “Extortion” and her mobile phone was seized. She was detained in August as the third suspect in the case after leaked audio recordings revealed by Italian daily La Verita pointed to her involvement in the racket.
The initial two suspects were Bojan Jovanovski, aka Boki 13, the owner of the now bankrupt 1TV station who is better known to the public for his participation in Balkan reality shows as a transvestite, and businessman Zoran Milevski, known as Kiceec.
Jovanovski and Janeva are now on trial, accused of extorting money from businessman Orce Kamcev, a suspect in the “Empire” case also launched by the SPO. Milevski has already been sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty.
Prosecutors told the Skopje court hearing the case that the suspects promised Kamcev that he would avoid a prison sentence in the Empire case if he paid them off.
Kamcev was put in detention on November 10, 2018 during the probe into the Empire case on suspicion of criminal association, abuse of position, fraud and money laundering. He was known to be close to the conservative VMRO-DPMNE party when it was in power. The Empire case focused on Kamcev’s business empire and his relations with Gruevski’s cousin Mijalkov.
Appearing as a witness in the Extortion case on December 6, Kamcev claimed that the Empire case was created by the SPO in order for the suspects to extort money from him.
Forbes magazine named Kamcev as Macedonia's richest person in 2016. He is an owner of Orka Holding and the Sistina clinic, and he and his family are also involved in many businesses in North Macedonia, including in the hotels, food and dairy sectors as well as the real estate sector.
Kamcev told the court that Janeva and Boki 13 were extorting money from him but that other people were also involved in the racket, pointing to prosecutor Lile Stefanova and a lawyer, who was a brother of the judge Vesna Dimiskova.
Kamcev recalled that his wife Ana gave the first €500,000 to Milevski while he was in detention last year. Ana Kamcev will testify in court on December 10.
After Kamcev realised that he was the subject of a racket he decided to give Jovanovski €1mn and to record the process with home security cameras and cell phones, on the advice of his Bulgarian friends.
Video footage released by La Verita this summer shows Jovanovski and Milevski leaving Kamcev’s home, presumably while the latter was under house arrest, carrying a bag of money.
In his testimony, Kamcev said there were no politicians involved in the racket. He claimed that Boki 13 defamed many current politicians, who were not related to his criminal scheme, by showing photos of them to prove that he has top-level connections.
During the trial, Janeva said that she does not feel the slightest guilt for what she was charged with. Jovanovski also pleaded not guilty.
However, the sentence already issued for Milevski indicates that Janeva and Jovanovski will not escape prison sentences. Janeva could be given up to eight years in prison after being accused among other things of receiving a bribe of €50,000 while in office, promising in return that the Empire investigation would go in Kamcev's favour.
The SPO was once one of the institutions which enjoyed great support from citizens who hoped it would solve crime and corruption-related cases connected to the previous VMRO-DPMNE government, but expectations faded following the scandal.
Following the detention of Janeva, who had the main say in SPO cases, all cases will be taken over by the Public Prosecutor Office (JORM).
Reflections from our correspondents on the ground in Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia and Romania.
Register here to continue reading this article and 5 more for free or purchase 12 months full website access including the bne Magazine for just $250/year.
Register to read the bne monthly magazine for free:
Already registered
Password could contain only a-z0-9\+*?[^]$(){}=!<>|:-_ characters and have 8-20 symbols length.
Please complete your registration by confirming your email address.
A confirmation email has been sent to the email address you provided.
Forgotten password?
Email field can't be empty.
No user with this email address.
Access recovery request has expired, or you are using the wrong recovery token. Please, try again.
Access recover request has expired. Please, try again.
To continue viewing our content you need to complete the registration process.
Please look for an email that was sent to with the subject line "Confirmation bne IntelliNews access". This email will have instructions on how to complete registration process. Please check in your "Junk" folder in case this communication was misdirected in your email system.
If you have any questions please contact us at sales@intellinews.com
Sorry, but you have used all your free articles fro this month for bne IntelliNews. Subscribe to continue reading for only $119 per year.
Your subscription includes:
For the meantime we are also offering a free subscription to bne's digital weekly newspaper to subscribers to the online package.
Click here for more subscription options, including to the print version of our flagship monthly magazine:
More subscription options
Take a trial to our premium daily news service aimed at professional investors that covers the 30 countries of emerging Europe:
Get IntelliNews PRO
For any other enquiries about our products or corporate discounts please contact us at sales@intellinews.com
If you no longer wish to receive our emails, unsubscribe here.
Magazine annual electronic subscription
Magazine annual print subscription
Website & Archive annual subscription
Combined package: web access & magazine print annual subscription