Orce Kamchev is free to go on vacation by the sea this summer


Just like two years ago, the businessman Orce Kamchev together with Vardar players celebrated the European title in Cologne. And in 2017, when Vardar won the first title, and on Sunday, Kamchev, along with handball players and his close friend Sergei Samsonenko, won a gold medal. But this year the public was shocked to see the businessman, with a black baseball cap and beard, behind the Skopje club captain Stojance Stoilov, because almost no one knew how he left the country, as the court took his passport as a suspect in the case “Imperija”. This case was opened by the Special Prosecutor’s Office and it was supposed to demolish the “empire” of companies owned by Kamchev, which he acquired due to his close ties to the previous government. His appearance in Cologne revealed that the court had returned the passport for six months and this summer he could travel and have a vacation by the sea.

Officially, the institutions do not have a precise answer when and why Kamchev got his passport back. The judge who decided, Vesna Dimishkova, was on holiday and an official response from the Criminal Court is expected today. According to our unofficial information, Kamchev got his passport back a month ago. The Ministry of Internal Affairs issued him a temporary six-month passport with a court decision and the approval of the Special Prosecutor’s Office.

“The SPO gave approval, but was not informed by the court, it did not receive the decision and there was not informed that he had received a passport,” the SPO said.

Anyhow, the Court made the decision with the consent of the Special Prosecutor’s Office. They say that in such cases, when the prosecutor proposes or agrees with a more lenient measure, the court can not refuse such a proposal or ignore it. The law obliges it to always impose the more mild measure. Kamchev is now obliged to occasionally appear in court. Unofficially, the approval to return Kamchev’s passport was the decision of the Special Prosecutor Katica Janeva.

The investigation on the “Imperija” case has been put on hold and no charges have yet been filed. While waiting for the government and the opposition to agree on a new legal solution to the Public Prosecution Act, which should resolve the future status of the Special Prosecutor’s Office, the SPO returns the passports to some of the suspects. According to unofficial information, the SPO returned the passport for six months to another person accused in “Imperia”, the owner of “Pelisterka”, Cvetan Pandeleski and the suspect Tome Glavchev, who was suspected in the case “Poshtenska Banka”. He owns the textile company “Noel” from Gevgelija.

Kamchev used to see some sports matches with former UBK director Sasho Mijalkov and former MPM boss Srdjan Kerim. Kamchev and Mijalkov were arrested last November after Nikola Gruevski fled the country, and less than two months later they were released under house arrest after having offered a monetary guarantee – Mijalkov one million euros and Kamchev a record 14 million euros. Mijalkov was then arrested in the “Titanik 2” case, but immediately after the presidential election, he was put under house arrest. According to the latest official information, Mijalkov has was released from house arrest and for now his passport is with the court.

Other suspects in the “Imperija” case are Nenad Josifovic, Cvetan Pandeleski, Ratka Kunoska Kamcheva, Hristina Kamcheva Stojceska, Zorica Arsovska, Liljana Gajdovska, Vladislav Stajkovic, Todor Mircevski, Dejan Janev, Vance Mijalchev and Jovanche Taskovski. They are charged with criminal association, causing damage or privilege of creditors, abuse of office and authorization, fraud and money laundering.

The Special Prosecutor’s Office unveiled the business empire of the two powerful people, businessman Orce Kamchev and former director of the UBK, Sasho Mijalkov, who had bought half of Macedonia. From what was revealed by the SPO, however, the beginning and the end of the bleak businesses, which were being created for a decade, are hard to find and explain. The shortest conclusion that can be drawn is that the “empire” was built with a network of offshore companies formed by Kamchev, who was the brain of complicated transactions, while the power behind them was Mijalkov.

Kamchev was released with a decision by the Supreme Court in early March after the highest court delivered a legal opinion that the SPO was incapable of bringing charges and prosecuting after June 30, 2017, that is, 18 months after receiving the wiretapped materials from SDSM. The “Imperija” case was opened after the contested period, and the SPO claimed that some of the evidence was taken from the regular public prosecutor’s office and the 18-month deadline was not exceeded.

Frosina Fakova-Serafinovic