[REVISION HISTORY]

North Macedonia State Lottery contract and corruption probe

Updated 9 times since CLSTR started tracking revisions of this situation.

What changed

2026-10-10 18:47 UTC → 2026-10-21 17:09 UTC · added ~~removed~~

The North Macedonian State Lottery continues to face scrutiny regarding its contract with Avalon and its subsidiary, Stardust, to organize the 35th anniversary of national independence. While government spokesperson Marija Miteva and State Lottery Director Aleksandar Klimovski maintained that the 300 million denars used for the festivities—including a performance by David Guetta—were sourced from the lottery’s undistributed profits rather than the state budget, the opposition SDSM has challenged the administration’s economic narrative. The SDSM accused the government of increasing public debt by approximately 4 billion euros over two years while demanding transparency regarding the use of lottery funds. An investigation has been launched by the State Commission for Prevention of Corruption into the financing of the anniversary celebrations. The probe focuses on the funds provided by the State Lottery to Stardust and a potential conflict of interest involving Nikolče ~~Micevski.~~ Micevski, the chairman of the external commission responsible for evaluating the event program. Legal investigations have expanded to include broader financial mismanagement. Prosecutors have charged the head of the finance sector and the head of financial affairs with embezzling approximately 80 million denars. ~~These suspects allegedly misappropriated daily turnover from sales outlets instead of depositing it into company accounts; one is in custody and~~ Additionally, the ~~other is under house arrest. Director Klimovski stated he alerted~~ Levica party has alleged that the ~~Financial Police after~~ lottery has been used as a political tool, citing payments to influencers and associations linked to relatives of security personnel. The VLEN party further criticized the government for using lottery revenues to fund celebrations despite previous opposition to gambling. Recent audits by the State Audit Office have identified ~~‘cash leakage’ during a 2024 review, noting that an investigation into the 2023 fiscal year is also underway. Additionally,~~ significant irregularities in five gambling companies partially owned by the ~~Levica party has accused~~ State Lottery. Findings include discrepancies in capital contributions, the ~~government of~~ bypassing ~~legal protocols to allocate 300 million denars~~ of public procurement laws through internal regulations, and a lack of documentation for marketing expenses. Management stated they have initiated measures to ~~Geta, alleging Director Klimovski is relying on government meeting minutes rather than required shareholder assembly decisions.~~ address these inherited irregularities.

Versions

Only revisions since CLSTR began indexing content versions appear here. Select a version to see what changed compared to the one before it.