4 Former Agriculture Ministers arrested

Former Agriculture Ministers Mihail Cvetkov, Aco Spasenovski and Ljupco Dimovski, and former deputy Agriculture Minister Kristijan Delev were arrested on Friday, on request of the Basic Public Prosecution (PPO). The four former ministers were arrested over abuse of office related to leasing agriculture land, resulting in losses of over 1.4 million euros to the State Budget of Macedonia. “The persons are suspected of concluding agreements for lease of agriculture land, which they did not terminate despite the lessees not paying not paying the fee. This involves 584 lease agreements across the country, with total budget losses exceeding 88.46 million denars (around 1.4 million euros),” PPO said in a press release. The court determined 30-day detention measures for Cvetkov and Delev, and 30-day house arrest for Spasenovski due to his current health condition, while Dimovski claimed parliamentary immunity.