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

At the continuation of the trial against former director of the State Inspectorate for Agriculture Vase Anakiev, a Delchevo agricultural entrepreneur testified that Anakiev demanded a €100,000 bribe to allow the import of synthetic fertilizer and that the first installment of €50,000 was handed over before the official arrest.

Witness describes pressure, blocked shipments and a hotel handover

Metodij Manov, the owner of the company that says it was extorted, told the court he first met Anakiev during a meeting about a disputed corn import. Manov said inspections and repeated controls followed his business, and that trucks were held at the border while competitors’ shipments passed freely.

Manov said the pressure escalated during the fertilizer import season in February and March: "Ова личи на класичен рекет." He described 22 reports for extraordinary inspections in 20 days, fines of €5,000 on two occasions, and repeated returns of trucks from border crossings.

According to Manov, the demand for payment was relayed through the company's freight forwarder, Gorancho Stamenkovski. Manov said Stamenkovski at first did not want to disclose the amount because he was afraid, then told them: "Ќе се реши проблемот, бараат 100.000 евра. Се договоривме со брат ми да пријавиме."

Manov testified that they were told the meeting location only minutes before; Anakiev allegedly wrote on Stamenkovski’s phone that the bribe should be paid in three installments, while during the meeting Anakiev insisted on the split: "Двапати по 50.000!" On 19 March, Manov said he, his brother Goran, and the forwarder handed over the first installment of €50,000.

The court record shows that on 1 July 2026 prosecutor Iskra Hadzhivasileva from the Basic Public Prosecutor's Office for Prosecution of Organized Crime and Corruption filed an indictment at the Basic Criminal Court Skopje charging Anakiev with accepting a bribe. The indictment alleges that, in March 2026, Anakiev abused his position as director by pressuring officials to block imports and by influencing a phytosanitary inspector so that a shipment was detained at the border, while demanding and receiving a substantial personal benefit.

Manov also said that after they reported the demand, their shipments were rerouted to Deve Bair and passed without problem under the same rules. He added that, despite the redirection, the final phase was the physical handover of cash, which led to Anakiev’s arrest while receiving the money.

Prosecutor Hadzhivasileva thanked the witness in court by saying, "Thank you for that." Cross-examination by the defense began after the prosecutor's questions.

Photo: СДК.МК)