Witness: Vase Anakiev demanded €100,000 in two installments — first €50,000 handed over on March 19

At today’s continuation of the trial against the former director of the State Inspectorate for Agriculture, Vase Anakiev, Metodij Manov from Delchevo testified. He said that Anakiev requested a bribe of €100,000 to approve the import of synthetic fertilizer and that the first installment of €50,000 was handed over before the actual arrest.

The witness described systematic pressure and rerouted trucks

Manov said he first met Anakiev during a meeting over a disputed corn import. After that meeting, more intensive inspections and controls began at his farm; trucks with goods were being held at border crossings, while competitors’ shipments passed without hindrance.

For the import season in February and March the witness noted: "This looks like classic extortion." He described that within 20 days 22 reports for extraordinary inspections were drawn up, that they received two fines of €5,000 each, and that several times the trucks were turned back at the border.

Manov stated that the request for money came through their freight forwarder, Gorancho Stamenkovski. According to him, Stamenkovski at first feared to disclose the amount, but later said: "It will be solved, they demand €100,000. My brother and I agreed to report it."

The witness said the meeting place was communicated only 15 minutes before the meeting; Anakiev, it is said, wrote on Gorancho’s phone that the extortion should be in three installments, but at the meeting he was categorical: "Two times 50,000!" On March 19, Manov said that he, his brother Goran and the freight forwarder handed over the first installment of €50,000.

Records of the indictment show that on July 1, 2026 prosecutor Iskra Hadzhivasileva from the Basic Public Prosecutor's Office for Prosecution of Organized Crime and Corruption filed an indictment with the Basic Criminal Court Skopje against Anakiev for accepting a bribe. In the indictment it is alleged that in March 2026, as an official, the director exerted pressure so that the import would not be approved and influenced the phytosanitary inspector, as a result of which the goods were detained at the border crossing, while from him he requested and obtained substantial material benefit.

Manov added that after they reported the situation, the trucks were redirected to Deve Bair and passed without problems under the same procedure. However, as he said, the final act was the handing over of the money, after which the police deprived Anakiev of his liberty while he was receiving the sum.

The prosecutor thanked the witness in court with the words: "We thank you for that." This was followed by cross-examination by the defense.

Photo: SDK.MK)