Former PM Zaev’s in-law, Atanas Kostov, faked that his gherkin-producing company was going bankrupt in order to avoid paying nearly five million euros in debt owed to an Austrian company, AMMA, other firms, and the Public Revenue Office, according to the charges filed by the Financial Police Office against Kostov and against another company manager from Valandovo.
Four years ago, AMMA won an international dispute in Vienna worth four million euros against Kostov’s domestic company, DENA PRODUKT. The latter had breached the agreement for the production of gherkins. DENA PRODUKT was owned by Kostov. According to the ruling, he sold gherkins to Global Trade DMM, i.e., to his wife, Emilija Kostova-Zaeva, cousin of Zaev, even though he was contractually prohibited from doing so.
The arbitration tribunal ruled in favor of the Austrian company, but despite the scandal, which also prompted a reaction from the then-Ambassador of Austria, it nevertheless became bogged down in court litigation.