Page 53 - bne magazine November 2021_20211104 uzbekistan risding

bne November 2021 Southeast Europe I 53
bill still has to pass the filters of the Venice Commission.
Skopje stepped up its efforts to fight corruption after the country dropped a further five spots on the latest CPI to 111th place, making it one of the lowest ranked countries in Europe, having already fallen 13 places from the 2018 ranking.
“[M]uch more needs to be done in that direction [of fighting corruption],” head of the State Commission for Prevention of Corruption, Biljana Ivanovska, told bne IntelliNews in a phone conversation.
corruption cases, taking over from the previous special prosecutor’s office (SPO), which was dismantled in 2019 due to corruption in its own ranks.
Many of them ended with the arrest of prominent figures mostly from VMRO- DPMNE, including ex-chief of the secret police Saso Mijalkov and businessman Orce Kamcev. There are several court cases against Mijalkov. In one of
them, he was sentenced for illegally purchasing wiretapping equipment, while Kamcev is accused of money laundering, among other things.
proactive in preventing corruption and opened a high number of cases, including those involving high-level officials from across the political spectrum, in line with last year’s recommendation.”
“The State Commission for Prevention of Corruption continued to address allegations of nepotism, cronyism and political influence in the process of recruitment of public sector employees,” according to the report.
The European Commission said that as regards the fight against corruption the country, an EU candidate since 2005, is moderately prepared.
“Good progress was made through consolidating its track record on investigating, prosecuting and trying high level corruption cases,” according to the report.
Political appointments
Despite the positive steps, Ivanovska noted that on the downside, there is still a low level of political awareness in the country.
The state administration and state controlled enterprises remain the domain of political appointees. Directors and board members in the state-run companies and institutions usually
come from the ruling parties’ structures, regardless of their experience in
the related field. Even lower-level
“We send the message that this government is maximally committed to pursue a policy of transparency, which is the basis of the fight against corruption"
The country still suffers from a low level of political culture and awareness and needs to open more space for professionalism in all spheres, Ivanovska said.
On the other hand, Ivanovska confirmed that North Macedonia has made positive steps in the fight against corruption lately, including in increased transparency, which is a key factor in the fight against corruption.
“There are also positive steps taken in the implementation of the EU recommendations,” she said.
Corruption and the Colourful Revolution
The Social Democrats came to power following mass protests, dubbed the Colourful Revolution, and a prolonged political crisis. The demonstrations against the former administration under the conservative VMRO-DPMNE were triggered by a dossier released by Zaev, then opposition leader, detailing top-level corruption obtained from wiretapped conversations that were leaked to the opposition party.
Since then, the public prosecutor’s office launched a series of high-level
Even the country’s long-serving former prime minister Nikola Gruevski was sentenced in absentia in a case concerning a luxury armoured Mercedes bought with public money. Gruevski fled to Hungary and sought asylum there to avoid serving his sentence.
In the latest country report on North Macedonia for 2020, the European Commission praised the state anti- corruption body, for being “particularly
Prime Minister Zoran Zaev announces the latest campaign against corruption.
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