The Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Skopje has filed an indictment against eight people over the abuses at the „State Lottery”. The damage is estimated at 507,632,173 denars, or around 8.25 million euros. The filing date is not an accident worth passing over - it landed exactly on the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Ohrid Framework Agreement.

The prosecution did not publish the names, but the job descriptions give them away. The first defendant is described as the then general director of the „State Lottery” Perparim Bajrami, the second as former first deputy prime minister Artan Grubi, and the third as the then secretary general of the Government Metodija Dimovski. The remaining five are described as the then chairman and members of the Supervisory Board.

All eight are charged as co-perpetrators of abuse of official position and authority under Article 353 of the Criminal Code. According to the indictment, during 2023 and 2024 they jointly exceeded their powers with the intent of causing damage to the company.

A right that had already been sold

The core of the indictment is simple. The „State Lottery” had no right to independently run electronic games of chance through video lottery terminals - that right was contributed back in 2013 as a non-cash stake, valued at 6,244,898 euros, when the joint company with „Casinos Austria” was founded. In return the state-owned company received 51 percent of the share capital. The prosecution's argument is that the right had already been transferred and could not be used in parallel.

Even so, on 9 May 2023 Bajrami submitted a memo to the Government's secretary general proposing that the „State Lottery” start running electronic games on its own. The memo stated that the planned procurement amounted to 42 percent of the book value of the assets - meaning a „major transaction”. On 6 June of the same year the memo was proposed as an addition to the agenda of a government session, contrary to the Government's own rules of procedure.

Grubi chaired that session. The Government was acting in the capacity of the shareholders' assembly. According to the indictment, Grubi had real influence over the management and proposed that the item be adopted although he was aware that the Government in that capacity had no authority to approve the deal. The memo went through.

What is not being said

The press release contains not a single answer to the questions that matter most. How many terminals were procured. Which companies were paid. How much of the assumed obligations was paid in full. Where the equipment is today. Eight million euros in damage, and the public gets a list of job titles with no names attached.

The indictment differs considerably from the investigation opened on 16 December 2024. Back then six people were covered, Grubi and Bajrami were suspected of embezzlement in office, and the damage was estimated at 501,319,119 denars. Today it is eight people, a different legal classification, and damage larger by roughly 6.3 million denars. Explanation for either change - none.

The criminal complaint filed by the Interior Ministry in December 2024 also covered former prime minister Dimitar Kovačevski and Dimovski. The prosecution said at the time that the allegations were still being checked. Dimovski is now among the defendants. Kovačevski is not mentioned, not even through a job title.

Bajrami remains out of reach of the prosecuting authorities and has been the subject of an international arrest warrant since December 2024. The prosecutor requested 30 days of detention for him, to start running from the moment he is found. For Grubi, an extension of house arrest with temporary confiscation of his passport was proposed. He left the country in December 2024, just before the police searches, and after more than 14 months turned up at the „Blace” border crossing on 23 February this year.

Filing an indictment does not mean guilt - the court determines that, and the defendants are innocent until a final verdict. But after 14 months on the run, two legal classifications and two damage estimates, it is reasonable to ask whether the state is running a case or just keeping one alive.