Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski today denied that IPARD funds have been blocked following arrests for corruption at the Agency for the Support of Agriculture and Rural Development, saying that the investigation is being deepened because there is also information about previous misuse of funds.
"No. On the contrary. The positive action by the people of the European Commission has been welcomed," declared Prime Minister Mickoski, who this morning was visiting the Kostal factory in Ohrid.
Prime Minister Mickoski said that he has requested that the payment of money from IPARD be blocked, in order to see how far the misuse has gone.
"We need to see how far the abuses go. Because the initial information says that this is not from now but has been happening for several years, so we will investigate everything and anyone who thinks it will go away like this is being lied to. Everyone will be held accountable from the first to the last. Whoever it is," said Mickoski.
The Ministry of Finance announced yesterday that through the structures and bodies for managing funds from the European Union's IPA/IPARD instrument, Macedonia has taken a decision to temporarily suspend payments of funds from the IPARD program. As explained, such a decision follows the current events with the Agency for Financial Support to Agriculture and Rural Development.
