Businessman Threatens to Sue Skopje Municipality

Fijat Canoski

 The businessman’s residential building complex, which is under construction, was intended to house 4,000 people. However, last week the Skopje municipality of Gazi Baba – which is run by a mayor of the ruling VMRO DPMNE party- started demolishing it.

Speaking to members of the press last week, Canoski claimed that the demolition was illegal and said he suspected it could be a form of political retaliation from the government of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, whose ruling coalition he recently left.

Canoski is the head of the small Party for European Future, PEI. His party was part of the ruling VMRO DPMNE party-led coalition until 2010.

Before Macedonian general elections earlier this year, Canoski shifted sides and aligned himself with the main opposition party, the Social Democrats. However, the Social Democrats lost to the VMRO DPMNE party and he has since remained in opposition.

Speaking about his residential property complex, he said: “Some €15 million have been invested so far in the building that is being demolished. I will ask for at least €50 million in damages.”

He added that he has filed lawsuits against the municipality and its mayor for disruption of his reputation and for ruining his business project.

“I had no problems while I was part of the government. How come my work then was legal and now, when I joined the opposition, all of a sudden I am breaking the law?” he said.

The municipality of Gazi Baba has a different view of the subject and has announced that it will sue Canoski instead.

“Due to the fact that in this case we have a flagrant breach of the law for construction, we have filed criminal charges against the investor and the developer,” Toni Trajkovski, Gazi Baba mayor, told Balkan Insight on Monday.

He insisted that that the tearing down of Canoski’s building had been lawful, explaining that the municipality’s inspections had found out that the building’s first few floors were taller than approved by the building permits.

At the time Canoski joined opposition ranks, Velija Ramkovski, a media mogul with whom he has family ties, had just been incarcerated. Canoski’s son is married to the daughter of Ramkovski.

Ramkovski has been in detention for over six months and is being tried for alleged large-scale financial crime. He owned the recently closed A1 TV station and three daily newspapers that were seen as the loudest pro-opposition media in the country. They were closed last month over alleged unpaid taxes to the state.

The government has denied it is targeting Ramkovski’s media insisting that unpaid taxes have nothing to do with press freedom. The government has not commented on the recent allegations from Canoski.