Struga, 9 June 2025 (MIA) – A court in Struga acquitted the mayor, Ramiz Merko, in a trial for the procurement of a luxury Audi, estimated at 67,000 euros.

The presiding judge, Jordan Jovanov, delivering the verdict said Merko from a legal point of view bears no criminal accountability.

“Preparing the verdict, I was guided by the fact that the dispositive of the indictment does not contain a blanket norm and that by acting contrary to the stated blanket norm, someone has gained a benefit or someone has suffered damage,” he said in court.

According to the evidence presented regarding the public procurement of the vehicle, he said, attorneys failed to prove that any provision of the Law on Public Procurements had been breached. 

Merko was tried since April 2024 for abuse of office by procuring four vehicles, estimated at close to 114,000 euros, including the Audi A6. The prosecution said he misused the municipal budget acting “against the public interest amid undue debts and blocked municipal account.” 

In 2020, State Commission for Prosecution of Corruption filed an initiative for Merko's criminal prosecution over the procurement of passenger vehicles, including an "Audi A6". The prosecutor's office closed the case during the pre-investigative stage, despite audit reports that the tender was carried out while the municipality was in financial difficulties.

In June 2023, Merko was designated by the U.S. State Department for involvement in significant corruption, saying he "misappropriated funds and interfered with judicial and other public processes, damaging the public’s faith in North Macedonia’s democratic institutions and officials."

MIA file photo