Although he has been on the run for three years, the former Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Nikola Gruevski, is starting a private business in Hungary.
In a small town near Budapest, he registered a company for a wide range of activities, DW learns.
About twenty kilometers east of Budapest is the town of Pecel. Neither the history of the town of fifteen thousand inhabitants, nor the pages on the Internet say anything special about that town: according to Wikipedia, the most famous people who come from it are a former minister of defense and a football player. Local historians say that the name is of Slavic origin - "five villages", Pecel.
But the residents of that place have reason to be happy, because their meager Wikipedia page can be enriched by the internationally sounding name of a fellow citizen. We are talking about Nikola Gruevski, the former prime minister of North Macedonia.
From glass to the advertising industry
Since July 9, the house at Boškai 14 has been the headquarters of the former prime minister's new company - Limited Liability Company (ICIC). According to a document published in the Hungarian Central Register of Companies, person Nikola Gruevski, born on August 31, 1970, mother Nadeža Mijalkov, requested and received approval to start business with his company, whose headquarters are at that address in Pecel. According to an insight into the documents that the DW editorial office in Macedonian has, the Limited Liability Company belonging to Gruevski plans a wide range of activities in at least ten sectors.
In accordance with Hungarian law, companies receive a special tax number for each business activity, and Gruevski obviously did not want to be limited to the trade sector, so he registered almost all activities available to him.
Thus, the former prime minister's company can engage in wholesale trade in porcelain and glass, as well as cleaning products. There is also a wholesale trade in food, drinks and tobacco, as well as various other goods.
Gruevski plans to be active in the field of financial management of companies (holding) in management, and has the opportunity to try his hand in the field of communication with the public, in the advertising industry, market and public opinion research, as well as in the organization of conferences and sales exhibitions. The registration of Gruevski's company in all these areas cost 8.350 euros. The address for electronic communication with the company is also listed: icic.wbm@gmail.com.
At the old address
For unknown reasons, Gruevski decided not to attach his residential address in Hungary, but the address of his lawyer in Budapest. DW's sources in Hungary state that Gruevski is hiding his address in the country he fled to in November 2018, most likely for security reasons. At the same time, the former prime minister did not have any problems to list Pavel Šateva Street 3 in Skopje, from where he fled to Hungary, as another address for communication.
Since Hungary refused his extradition to North Macedonia, which is looking for him to serve a prison sentence and face trial in a large number of cases, a number of new career opportunities are now opening up for former Prime Minister Gruevski.
This doctor of economic sciences gets almost unlimited opportunities to engage in business, although it is unclear whether he will invest his own money in it and how he will do it legally. Or maybe he will go into business with partners?
It is good news for him that the wide range of activities for which his company is registered allows him an almost unlimited inflow of funds, so money laundering is also possible - especially if the Hungarian authorities decide to turn a blind eye to such activities.
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