North Macedonia’s former First Deputy Prime Minister, Artan Grubi. Photo: vlada.mk.
Prosecutors in Skopje on Thursday charged Artan Grubi and seven others with abusing their official positions to enable the purchase of video lottery terminals that could not legally be put into operation, costing the State Lottery more than 8.2 million euros.
Grubi is accused of allegedly pushing for the move in 2023 and 2024 while serving as first deputy prime minister, despite knowing that the procedure was illegal and that the State Lottery could never use the gambling machines.
“The defendants, acting jointly during 2023 and 2024, took actions that exceeded the limits of their respective powers and duties, with the intention of causing harm to the legal entity the State Lottery,” the prosecution said in the indictment.
The gambling machines were subsequently purchased but, according to the prosecution, were never used.
Grubi has denied any wrongdoing.
The indictment came days before a house-arrest order for Grubi is due to expire. Prosecutors have asked the court to extend his house arrest, while also seeking 30 days in detention for another of the accused, the former State Lottery director Perparim Bajrami, who remains at large.
Grubi fled North Macedonia in December 2024 as authorities moved to investigate suspected wrongdoing at the State Lottery.
An international call for his arrest was issued, and he remained outside the country for more than a year. Grubi initially denied that he was on the run, saying he had travelled to Kosovo for private reasons and would return after completing his obligations there.
He eventually returned to North Macedonia in February this year and was arrested at the Blace border crossing while entering from Kosovo.
He was released from custody the same day after prosecutors asked for house arrest instead of custody, arguing that most of the evidence had already been secured and citing concerns over his personal safety in detention.
A court approved the measure, prompting widespread criticism over the relatively lenient treatment of a former senior official who had already fled the country once.
Grubi, a senior figure in the now opposition, ethnic Albanian Democratic Union for Integration, DUI party, served as first deputy prime minister and minister of political system and inter-community relations from 2020 to 2024.
In December 2024, the US State Department sanctioned him for alleged involvement in corruption.
