Skopje, 19 September 2025 (MIA) - Skopje’s Basic Criminal Court, upon proposal of the Basic Public Prosecutor's Office, ordered Friday a 30-day detention to the primary suspect related to the company whose electronic waste building in Trubarevo caught fire on Saturday. Three other suspects in the case have been placed under house arrest.

On Thursday, the Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office in Skopje said following analyses and evidence gathered during the preliminary investigation, it has launched an investigation against four individuals – M.D. (56), L.D. (26), V.M. (43), Z.S. (59) – and one legal entity based in Trubarevo for the criminal offense of endangering the environment and nature with waste.

The Prosecutor’s Office said the primary suspect, although not formally registered as a manager of the legal entity where waste was improperly stored, acted and took legal actions in relations with third parties and made decisions regarding the operations of the legal entity, and therefore had an obligation to take care of the legality of the operations of the company and its recycling subsidiary.

“The investigation includes him and his daughter as co-perpetrators who acted contrary to the Law on Waste Management and environmental protection regulations, repeatedly leaving, discarding, collecting, and transporting one or more connected shipments of waste and remains of electronic and electrical equipment, waste batteries and accumulators, and waste toners, which are considered hazardous waste. They stored the waste on a plot in Trubarevo, causing significant damage to the quality of the soil and air, thereby creating a widespread danger to human life and health,” the Prosecution said.

The third suspect is an authorized person – a manager of a subsidiary – who acted on the directions of the primary suspect and assigned work tasks to employees during the storage and processing of electrical waste.  

The fourth suspect, who wasn’t formally employed at the legal entity, took actions to organize the further disposal of electronic waste. He received, stored, sorted, and mechanically processed electrical waste outside the facilities for which a waste management permit had been issued.

“On September 13, the facility with improperly stored waste caught fire. Due to its scale and danger, the fire could not be brought under control and engulfed most of the stored electrical waste and the recycling branch's buildings. It caused a massive release of smoke, ash, and gases into the ambient air. As a result, measurements conducted by the Chemical, Biological, and Nuclear Defense Company of the Army of the Republic of North Macedonia and the State Environmental Inspectorate confirmed high levels of pollution,” the Prosecutor’s Office said.

The Office said it is continuing to investigate the potential culpability of other individuals and entities.

Photo: MIA