Skopje, 25 February 2025 (MIA) - First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Environment Izet Mexhiti has assessed Tuesday’s submission of documents to the Government by opposition party SDSM in support of their suspicions of corruption and irregularities in his work as an attempt to draw out “the story”, claiming that administrative or archival work cannot be depicted as “a great scandal”.

Mexhiti noted DUI was the first to make the allegations, while SDSM is following up, adding that the two opposition parties are synchronized in their “attacks”.

“First they spoke about the Ministry of Environment’s authorizations being taken away, but once they saw the Inspectorate, which was autonomous during their rule is now a part of the Ministry, as a sector within the Ministry, they moved to the second accusation that there is room for abuse identified by the Administrative Inspectorate. But this is a regular control that was a part of the State Administrative Inspectorate’s program. There is a reprimand with a remark about some established practice, not about authorizations or something else,” Mexhiti told journalists, adding that the practice was established by DUI and SDSM in 2016 and that the Ministry has appealed against the Inspectorate’s reprimand.

On Tuesday, SDSM submitted documents to Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski in relation to the allegations, after the Prime Minister said on Monday he trusts the Deputy PM and urged the opposition to submit evidence if they have any.

“Here are the documents provided to us by whistleblowers, they are from the state institutions and have archival numbers, seals and signatures. They clearly state that the State Administrative Inspectorate has identified irregularities, with Mexhiti overstepping his legal authorizations, personally signing all cases,” SDSM spokesperson Bogdanka Kuzeska said before the party submitted the documents to the Government.

Kuzeska alleged that based on the documents, a system for signatures and decision-making was established in the Ministry of Environment that was in violation of the legislation and administrative procedures, which, she said, gives rise to suspicions of corruption and bribery.  

She said the opposition party expects the Prime Minister to review the documents and urge the relevant institutions to act.

Photo: MIA