Skopje, 15 April 2025 (MIA) – Chief Prosecutor Ljupcho Kocevski said Tuesday the team of public prosecutors leading the investigation into the fire at the Pulse nightclub in Kocani has obtained all licenses issued for the facility's operation from 2012 to the day of the criminal event, and according to the inspection into the cases, there was not a single one with complete documentation.

Kocevski told Telma TV that the Ministry of Economy, which is responsible for issuing licenses, should have evaluated the entire documentation necessary to issue an operating license, because, he noted, in this particular case, ministers have issued licenses based on incomplete documentation.

"All licenses, though issued, did not have complete legal documentation. Ministers have issued licenses based on incomplete documentation. There have been no reports and proper documentation from the Protection and Rescue Directorate based on which ministers could issue a license. This includes construction, documents from local self-government, etc. Ministers should have evaluated all the necessary documents and then issue a license. In the inspection into the license cases, the public prosecutors found that in all cases there was no complete and legal documentation," said Kocevski. 

He noted that the current Minister of Economy was not included in the investigation, as there was no evidence that the nightclub owner had initiated a procedure for issuing a new license.

"The Minister of Economy is responsible for issuing licenses. The fact that there has been no supervision is the task of other institutions. The Minister is not tasked with checking whether a license is currently in place. In this specific case, the Minister has not received any documentation for issuing licenses, therefore he cannot be held responsible," Kocevski said. 

Asked specifically which article of the law the suspected ministers of economy had violated, the Chief Prosecutor said that articles of several laws and by-laws had been violated, and he could not say anything at this stage, because, he noted, it was a matter of a pre-trial investigation. 

He added that in the past 10 years, no inspection has been carried out on a single cabaret on the territory of the country. Regarding the concrete case, Kocevski pointed out that not only the police, but also the entire city and the local self-government were familiar with the facility in Kochani. 

"The 'Pulse' facility was not only known to the police, it was known to the entire city. It was also known to the local self-government, and to all the competent institutions that were supposed to function. Which means that for 13 years in Kochani, no inspection of the facility has been carried out," said Kocevski. 

As regards two former directors of the State Market Inspectorate who have been under investigation for some time, the Chief Prosecutor said checks are ongoing, which is why their term in office is linked to a period when the nightclub had been operating under a falsified license. Kocevski said it does not necessarily mean that if someone had been a director of the State Market Inspectorate that they also have direct responsibility, which is not the case for the Protection and Rescue Directorate, because, he noted, essential regulations are in place there when looking into responsibility and possible involvement precisely with the management structure.

"It does not necessarily mean that if someone was a director, they would also have direct responsibility, unlike the Protection and Rescue Directorate, where there are essential regulations in place when looking into responsibility and possible involvement of persons from this institution, precisely with the management structure of the institution itself, unlike the State Market Inspectorate. What they had a duty to undertake and establish is a system of effective control and supervision, which has been violated in every sense," Kocevski said. 

Photo: MIA archive