Financial Police charges Ex-minister Todorov with neglect of duty


The Financial Police Office said Tuesday it had filed charges against former health minister Nikola Todorov for neglect of duty.

Charges have been also pressed against a man who was the head of the unit for implementation of a project on reconstruction and completion of construction of buildings of the public health institutions in Macedonia within the Ministry of Health.

The charges are in connection to contracts signed by the Ministry of Health throughout 2010 for construction works in the hospitals in Kumanovo, Kocani and Kriva Palanka with a contractor from the Croatian city of Split.

“The suspect T.N., acting in his capacity as minister of health, and the suspect P.V., as manager of the project, were tasked with respecting the legal procedures, in compliance with the signed contract they were obligated to monitor the implementation of the project… all the while abiding by the positive legal provisions and carefully managing with the assets and budget of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Macedonia,” the Financial Police Office said in a statement.

The suspects, it added, despite being informed and aware of the prolonged construction works of poor quality on part of the Croatian contractor, had failed to activate the payment and to ensure the banking guarantee was extended, thus breaching the law on public procurement.

According to the financial police, the suspects had neglected their duties and had damaged the budget of the Ministry of Health, i.e. the national budget, in an amount of MKD 3,813,000.