Authors: Angela Rajchevska and Bjanka Stankovikj
SDSM Secretary General Ljupco Nikolovski and VMRO-DPMNE Undersecretary Igor Janushev are the locomotives of their parties to win as many seats in the Assembly as possible in the early parliamentary elections expected to be held this summer. Bekim Neziri from DUI and Bekim Tateshi from the AA-Alternative coalition are expected to be side players due to the small chances for their parties to win at least one term.
This constituency has the most municipalities, a total of 24 – from northeast, east and part of central Macedonia.
The municipalities covered by this constituency are: Shtip, Veles, Kochani, Kriva Palanka, Sveti Nikole, Vinica, Berovo, Delchevo, Pehchevo, Probishtip, Kratovo, Makedonska Kamenica, Ilinden, Zelenikovo, Petrovec, Gradsko, Lozovo, Zrnovci, Karbinci, Kumanovo (part), Rankovce, Staro Nagorichane (part), Chashka and Cheshinovo-Obleshevo.
Nikolovski with property worth 121 thousand Euros, Shahpaska – 137
From the ranks of SDSM, this constituency is planned to be led by Ljupcho Nikolovski and Jagoda Shahpaska.
Nikolovski is a Macedonian politician from the ranks of SDSM and former Minister of Agriculture. He started his political career in 2014, when he was appointed Chief of Cabinet of SDSM President Zoran Zaev, and from November 2015 to May 2016 he was additional Deputy Minister of Agriculture in the technical government of Emil Dimitriev. In 2017, he was appointed head of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy.
In 2018, Minister Ljupcho Nikolovski owned property worth 121,735 Euros. He declared that he had a 211-Euro Renault Clio and a 9,919-Euro loan. His brother had a 2,927-Euro Fiat Stilo. The minister’s parents owned a house worth 89,665 Euros, a pasture worth 278 Euros, a yard of 2,257 Euros and agricultural land worth 3,740 Euros, all in Kriva Palanka. In 2019, he supplemented his property list with an apartment with ancillary premises, with no value stated, also in Kriva Palanka.
Jagoda Shahpaska is a member of the SDSM in the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia. In 2018, she owned property worth 137,044 Euros, consisting of a land under a building, ancillary facilities, ancillary premises, two apartments, a yard and a garage, but she did not specify the value in the property list. She also had a Volkswagen Golf worth 15,902 Euros. Her husband owned a house in Berovo worth 4,797 Euros, as well as a garage worth 2,764 Euros and an apartment in Skopje valued at 56,668 Euros. He also had a loan of 26,913 Euros. The value of the two agricultural lands in Skopje and Berovo owned by Shahpaska’s husband is not stated.
To date, no changes have been noticed in Shahpaska’s property, and the property declared to the State Commission for Prevention of Corruption is still the same.
What does Janushev from VMRO-DPMNE own?
In the property that Igor Janushev declared while being director of JSP – Skopje, property worth 280 thousand Euros was recorded.
Then, in his name, Janushev declared a Mitsubishi Lancer Sportback worth 14 thousand Euros and income as a member of the Supervisory Board in the amount of 100 Euros per month. The three apartments in Skopje, each worth up to 60,000 Euros, are his wife’s. She also owns shares, dividends and an Opel Astra. A 90m2 apartment in Skopje worth 90 thousand Euros was declared as joint property.
Janushev has been a member of VMRO-DPMNE since 1998. In the period from 2000 to 2005 he was the Secretary of UMS of VMRO-DPMNE in Veles. In 2005 he became a member of the legal commission of VMRO-DPMNE, a position he held until 2009. He was the Deputy Secretary of VMRO-DPMNE for the local elections in 2017 for the Municipal Committees Shtip, Probishtip, Lozovo, Karbinci and Ilinden. In the period from 2015 to 2017, he was the director of JSP – Skopje, before that he worked in the Ministry of Transport and Communications.
Neziri with declared property of 260 thousand Euros
Bekim Neziri, the former Minister of Economy, who took over the ministerial chair in 2014, will be the holder of the DUI list in constituency 3 this year.
Minister Neziri used to be the director of the Pension and Disability Insurance Fund. He previously served as director of economic and legal affairs at MANAV.
According to data from Open Data Macedonia, in 2016, Neziri declared property worth 260 thousand Euros. Ninety-nine percent of the property is in his personal name: an apartment, business premises and a land in Skopje, three loans, two rental incomes and one loan. Only the Peugeot 308 was declared as his wife’s.
The ophthalmologist, who comes from the Alliance for Albanians, will lead the AA Coalition in constituency 3. Until two years ago, Tateshi was director of the University Eye Clinic.
