Eight defendants, 231 pieces of material evidence, and damages of 507,632,173 denars - around 8.25 million euros. The "State Lottery" case finally reached a courtroom on 24 August, before the Basic Criminal Court in Skopje, in proceedings led by judge Biljana Suplinovska-Jovevski.

Artan Grubi, the former first deputy prime minister, took his seat in the dock. Charged alongside him are Metodija Dimovski, former secretary general of the government, and members of the State Lottery's boards and commissions.

One chair stayed empty

Prparim Bajrami, former director general and chairman of the State Lottery's management board, did not appear. He has been on the run for about two years.

That is the detail worth pausing on. The case is significant enough to gather eight defendants and more than two hundred pieces of evidence, and the central figure from the institution itself managed to get beyond the reach of the authorities and stay there for two years. Not one of the steps praised as a success of the judiciary has brought him back into the country.

From embezzlement to abuse of office

The indictment is for abuse of official position and authority under Article 353 of the Criminal Code - an offence carrying one to five years in prison. During the investigation the classification was changed from embezzlement to abuse of office.

Here is the second number that does not fit. The damage amounts to 8.25 million euros, and the maximum sentence is five years. The prosecution has announced eight witnesses and the procedure is expedited, with hearings scheduled densely through September and October - 7, 11, 16, 18, 23 and 30 September, then through October.

The pace is good news. A trial twice a week means the case will not drag on with months of pause between hearings, which is the usual fate of big cases here.

The chronology goes back to 2023 - the information on regulating standalone electronic games was submitted on 9 May, and on 6 June the secretary general proposed adding it to the agenda. The indictment was filed on 13 August 2026.

Three years from the event to the indictment, and an unknown stretch still to the verdict. When that verdict comes, it will be judged on one question - whether 8.25 million euros ends in a sentence somebody actually serves, or in a penalty that gets booked as a cost of doing business.