Rashkovski will not resign after being accused of illegal tender


Government Secretary General Dragi Rashkovski said he would take the matter to court after an audio recording was leaked in connection to a tender for the procurement of an air navigation system, which prompted reports about his alleged illegal involvement in the procedure.
Speaking at a news conference on Tuesday, he said he wasn’t planning to step down after the so called ‘M-NAV’ scandal, which was revealed by the opposition party VMRO-DPMNE.
VMRO-DPMNE has brought a court case against him. At the news conference, Rashkovski accused the party of having no knowledge about the duties of a government secretary general.
“This is a version of the conversation. As soon as there’s an official court verdict, then we can sit down and discuss the matter once again,” Rashkovski told a news conference Tuesday when asked if he planned on resigning.
He said that tomorrow he would file charges for illegal recording against Klimet Chepunjovski, who was recently dismissed from his post as director at M-NAV. The gen-sec said he would also sue several journalists, a political party and three web-portals.
In the wiretapped conversation, Rashkovski can be heard talking to two senior officials about the Macedonian Air Navigation and allegedly setting up a tender for an Italian company.
Rashkovski apologized to ‘all nations that might have be insulted’ by the leaked 15-minute conversation. The hour-long recording has been handed over to be further analyzed by experts.
He presented at the news conference documents involving the case, including minutes from a government session in which he was charged to join the tender procedure after the formation of the new government as soon as it had been concluded that the tender was four years late.
Presenting details about the procurement of an air navigation system, implemented with funds approved by the EBRD, Rashkovski said the contract selecting the Italian company was made in 2017 by Zhivko Popovski, the father for ex-foreign minister Nikola Popovski, who is now an MP from the opposition.
On the case involving radars that had been left with no signals in September, he said the matter was discussed at a closed government session. “Information is classified, because evidence is being collected at the moment. It will be made public as soon as prosecutors open an investigation,” said Rashkovski.