Skopje, 10 February 2026 (MIA) – The government is expected today to approve inspections of all legal entities involved in cannabis cultivation and cannabis oil production, following identified irregularities and violations of the law regulating this sector in several companies, which led to the seizure of 40 tons of marijuana. Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said that the quantity seized could potentially reach 100 tons. He noted that while the legal framework is adequate, the problem lies in non-compliance and in the application of a regulation that conflicted with the law.

“Inspections will also be carried out at other facilities, as I have previously announced. The government will approve this today, but I will not chair the session due to other obligations and it will be presided over by Deputy Prime Minister Dimovski. I expect that in the coming days all companies holding a license to operate in this sector will be checked," Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski told reporters after inspecting the construction work on Nevena Georgieva – Dunja primary school in Kisela Voda.

Mickoski said that during the period when the licenses were issued, the Minister in charge was Venko Filipche, but he emphasized that the problem is not with the licenses themselves, but with a regulation that conflicts with the law.

"You can assume that at a certain point the Minister in charge was Filipche. But licenses are one thing, and the other issue is that a regulation was adopted, which is subordinate to the law, effectively allowing the production of cannabis flower that does not meet Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards. They were aware that this would happen, and if the standards are not met, it is logical that the oil produced during extraction cannot be licensed or placed on the market. This was very clear to those who issued the regulation. The real question is: what was the motivation for adopting such a regulation if you know you cannot achieve the quality needed to produce marketable oil that meets the standards? A serious investigation needs to be conducted,” Mickoski said.

He emphasized that this is just the start of the investigation and that information from the Ministry of Interior indicates a very serious case.

On Feb. 7, Interior Ministry reported the seizure of a large quantity of marijuana. At a legal entity in Skopje, around nine tons of marijuana and over 1,300 bottles of cannabis oil were discovered and confiscated. Additionally, over 31 tons of marijuana and biomass were seized from legal entities in the eastern region of the country.

Photo: MIA