Skopje, 18 December 2024 (MIA) - The Ministry of Interior has issued international arrest warrants for former deputy prime minister, Artan Grubi, and former State Lottery head, Perparim Bajrami, who are suspected of misappropriating around EUR 8 million from the State Lottery's budget.

The Prosecutor’s Office said Tuesday it was set to order the Interior Ministry to issue national and international arrest warrants, after the Skopje-based Criminal Court ordered 30-day detention for the two suspects.  

The two suspects are currently not available to law enforcement. 

Ex-deputy prime minister Grubi posted on Facebook late Sunday that he was on a private visit out of the country.  

"I travelled for a private visit today. Please do not make things up and speculate. I have been travelling regularly with my travel documents and my personal police detail has been notified of this," Grubi said in his post.

Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski told a TV21 interview on Monday that Grubi has left the country for Kosovo in a diplomatic vehicle alongside another person.

“Based on my information, the former head of State Lottery has been out of the country for quite a while. While the former deputy prime minister left Macedonia and headed to our northern neighbour, Kosovo, on Sunday, alongside a businessman in a vehicle with diplomatic license plates,” Mickoski said.

The businessman who transported Grubi to Kosovo in his vehicle with diplomatic license plates, as Telma learns from sources in the investigation, is Arsim Papraniku, a successful businessman in the region and owner of Neptun.

Minister of Interior Panche Toshkovski said Monday a former prime minister and first deputy PM were part of the investigation into the State Lottery case.

"Criminal charges have been pressed against eight individuals, including a former PM, a former deputy PM, a former director of the company and a former secretary general. Two persons are currently not available to law enforcement," Minister Toshkovski told a press conference.

Photo: MIA archive