Kire Mihailov urges citizens not to buy stolen wood

On 4 October 2026 Kire Mihailov, deputy director of the Public Enterprise "National Forests", urged citizens not to buy wood sold at unusually low prices because it often comes from thieves cutting without permits.

Mihailov warned that when consumers purchase such wood they are directly financing groups that devastate North Macedonian forests. He stressed that illegal logging is rarely an isolated act and typically involves organised criminal groups.

He said those groups can be violent: employees of the enterprise and members of the forest police have been attacked while trying to stop illegal felling, and "this summer" an incident occurred in the Shtip area in which staff were assaulted.

Legal consequences and internal checks

Summing up the legal risk, Mihailov warned: "All those who dare in the future to raise a hand against an authorized official must be prepared in advance that a serious prison sentence follows, because it is an attack on an official," Mihailov says.

Mihailov also acknowledged there have been cases where employees of the Public Enterprise were involved with criminal groups. "If there is evidence, we take measures and follow up with reports," he said, underlining that suspected internal collusion will be investigated and handed over to the authorities when warranted.

He repeated his call to citizens to refuse illegally sourced wood and to report suspected thefts so that law enforcement and the enterprise can respond to organised operations that harm the country’s forests.

Photo: press material from the event