The State Department blacklisted North Macedonia’s energy mogul Kocho Angjushev, and declared him as generally ineligible for entry into the US due to his involvement in significant corruption.
According to the State Department, while serving as deputy prime minister, Angjushev abused his official position to benefit his private business interests, undermining the public confidence in North Macedonia in their government institutions and public processes.
“Today’s action demonstrates the United States stands with those in North Macedonia who seek accountability of corrupt public officials. This designation reaffirms the U.S. commitment to counter corruption, which harms the public interest, hampers countries’ economic prosperity, and curtails the ability of governments to respond effectively to the needs of their people, “ read the official statement from the State Department.
Angjusev owns several companies in North Macedonia that are active in the energy sector. According to the data from the Energy Regulatory Commission's registry for preferential producers of electricity from small hydroelectric power plants, as well as from the data from the Central Registry, Angjushev and his company Feroinvest, which is agGroup of several companies in renewable energy sector and metalworking industry, own 25 small hydroelectric plants.
The businessman denied the State Department’s accusations, claiming that during his tenure in the Government, he worked “with full respect for all the laws and constitutional provisions of the state, both in the interest of the country’s economy and its democratic principles”.
"I strongly deny all the doubts expressed in the document published by the honorable State Department and I want to announce that I will appeal the decision and will use all the legal remedies specified in the document itself in the direction of withdrawing this decision, which I consider unnecessary within the framework of the commitments of our friends, the United States, to fight against corruption," Angjushev said in his reaction.
