Indictment Against the Director of the Agricultural Inspectorate, Suspected of Requesting a 100,000 Euro Bribe

After the investigation was completed, a public prosecutor from the Office of the Basic Public Prosecutor for the Prosecution of Organized Crime and Corruption filed an indictment with the Basic Criminal Court in Skopje against the director of the State Agricultural Inspectorate for the criminal offense of “Receiving a Bribe.”

According to the indictment, the defendant, in his capacity as an official and director of the State Agricultural Inspectorate, during March of this year requested and directly received a significant material benefit for himself, with the intent of performing an official act that he was not authorized to carry out.

As stated in the indictment, he pressured a legal entity engaged in the production and import of artificial fertilizers not to receive approval for their import, although it had previously imported such goods several times. Through this intervention, he influenced an official, a phytosanitary inspector at a border crossing, not to allow the goods to enter the country, causing them to remain held at the border for several days.

On 13.03.2026, the defendant in Sveti Nikole directly requested a bribe of 100,000 euros for the approved import and for future imports of artificial fertilizer, asking for the payment to be made in three installments.

On 19.03.2026, after the complainant handed over the first installment of 50,000 euros through a witness, the defendant was arrested by police officers at the moment he was receiving the money.

Along with the indictment, a special proposal was also submitted to extend the defendant’s pretrial detention, due to the circumstances that served as the basis for its imposition, the Prosecutor’s Office said.