The man Malta chose as its honorary consul has been banned from entering the United States “due to his significant corruption”. “While serving as deputy prime minister, Angjushev abused his official position to benefit his private business interests,” the US State Department said on December 5.
The Maltese government said nothing and did nothing, hoping nobody would notice. It kept quiet – until Times of Malta asked the foreign ministry about Kocho Angjushev’s US designation as persona non grata. When the ministry realised the cat was out of the bag, it cut Angjushev loose.
“In light of such developments, the ministry is terminating his appointment with immediate effect and is closely following the latest developments,” the ministry spokesperson said.
Angjushev is one of the richest businessmen and a former deputy prime minister of North Macedonia, one of the most corrupt countries in Europe. He’s been repeatedly accused of involvement in grand corruption over several years. Transparency International, the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), the World Wildlife Fund, the International Federation of Journalists, and other organisations raised concerns about Angjushev’s corruption, allegations he denies.
Transparency International published a report, Grand corruption and tailor-made laws in the Republic of North Macedonia in November 2020, exposing Angjushev’s involvement in reducing custom duties on imports of electric lithium-ion batteries to benefit his own company, Branko. The Anti-Corruption Commission requested then prime minister Zoran Zaev to initiate proceedings against Angjushev. The prime minister took no action and Angjushev was never investigated by the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
That report was available to Robert Abela. Yet, in October 2021, Abela’s government appointed Angjushev its honorary consul. There were other reports available to Abela. Radio Free Europe reported that one-third of all Macedonian government subsidies had gone to power-plants owned by Angjushev and his brother. Angjushev, as deputy prime minister, was personally responsible for drafting laws affecting the energy sector in which he had a personal financial interest.
As early as 2019, the World Wildlife Fund noted that “those incentive schemes benefitted Kocho Angjushev – who owned at least 27 hydropower plants”.
A disproportionate 70 per cent of all subsidies went to hydropower plants despite the fact they only generated 3.6 per cent of electricity.
In May 2021, the OCCRP exposed Angjushev’s alleged involvement in a scandal involving heavily polluting fuel oil.
Angjushev met the ultimate owner of a company called Evrotim and the owner of HIFA Oil in his government offices. Soon after, Evrotim won two contracts to supply the fuel it was buying from HIFA to Brako, a company with ties to Angjushev.
Evrotim also started winning public contracts. Its turnover soared from around €500,000 to over €13 million in just two years. When Evrotim’s ultimate owner was challenged, he denied knowing Angjushev. He later admitted not only knowing Angjushev but meeting him at his government offices.
In January 2020, Angjushev was accused of causing the bankruptcy of the Russian TE-TO power plant company and the loss of €150 million to shareholders. All this information was available to Abela’s government. The foreign ministry must have known about it.
Everybody else knew.
So, when Angjushev was banished by the US State Department for “significant corruption”, nobody was surprised – except the Maltese government. “The ministry never received any negative information about him,” a ministry spokesperson bluffed.
The foreign ministry is either flagrantly lying or it is dismally incompetent- Kevin Cassar
The foreign ministry is either flagrantly lying or it is dismally incompetent. How is it possible that the foreign ministry was oblivious to the multiple reports about Angjushev, before it appointed him consul?
As recently as April 2023, Angjushev was welcomed to Malta by Foreign Minister Ian Borg who thanked him for his work. Had Borg bothered to run a quick search on Angjushev, he would have known what he’d been up to. Instead, Angjushev met several “economic entities” and had “talks with Malta’s agency for Foreign Investments”. If Angjushev facilitated, engineered, or negotiated any financial deals, they should all be intensely scrutinised.
The foreign ministry is now desperately trying to bury the whole scandal by claiming it’s “terminating his appointment with immediate effect”. But there’s far more burning questions to be answered.
Who picked Angjushev as Malta’s honorary consul? How is it possible that foreign ministry officials did not flag the serious concerns about Angjushev? Is it true that concerns raised by ministry officials were overruled? If so, who overruled those warnings? Why was a man with such serious allegations of grand corruption still appointed by President George Vella in October 2021?
We probably don’t need to look far for answers. In November 2018, then prime minister Joseph Muscat travelled to North Macedonia to meet then prime minister Zoran Zaev. His deputy was none other than Angjushev.
Muscat was exploring “business opportunities” between Malta and North Macedonia. Muscat took Steward Healthcare representatives with him. Times of Malta reported that “Macedonia is interested in exploring the Public Private Partnership model adopted by Malta in the health sector”.
Zaev had already visited Malta in May 2018. The two prime ministers met again in September 2019 in New York. Macedonian media later reported that Muscat, accompanied by controversial tycoon Shaukat Ali Abdul Gafoor, secretly met Zaev in Malta over “a hospital contract”. Shaukat Ali was the man who allegedly made millions off the Vitals scam.
The Macedonian government issued a curt statement: “The meeting between Prime Minister Zaev and Muscat discussed the intensification of relations between the two countries in several fields, among which a special focus was put on promoting cooperation in the field of health”.
Just one month later, Muscat was at the European Council fighting for North Macedonia and lobbying EU prime ministers to commence negotiations to allow the country entry into the EU. When his efforts failed, he expressed disappointment. He warned that “postponing the decision on negotiation with North Macedonia is a blow to the credibility of the EU”.
The country should know who picked Angjushev. We should know what deals were struck on Malta’s behalf by the man the US banished for “significant corruption”.
Somebody must take responsibility for another international embarrassment for the nation. Somebody must pay for sinking Malta’s reputation further into the mud.
Kevin Cassar is a professor of surgery.