The owner of the company from Kumanova Ritron Kopi, Artan Ajruli, has been arrested as part of an investigation that the authorities in North Macedonia are conducting in the case of the State Lottery.
According to Radio Free Europe (REL), Ajruli was arrested in connection with the accepted tenders for the purchase of televisions for the state joint stock company.
On December 17, REL reported that the counting of purchased equipment was done at the request of the Financial Police, which is investigating the tenders for the purchase of televisions of different dimensions from the Ritron Kopi company owned by Ajrul.
The financial police have checked the deliveries from the Kumanova company for the number of televisions delivered and if they are of the same brands for which the contracts were signed.
Four months ago, investigators also checked other State Lottery tenders for marketing and promotion related to this company.
Last year, REL reported that the tender of about 205 thousand euros was won by the company AP Solutions, whose owner and manager, Flamur Nevzatovski, was employed at Ritron Kopi. This company, in fact, was the only competitor in the tender.
The then 19-year-old Nevzatovski did not answer REL’s questions about his knowledge in trade and applying for tenders considering his age, where he will get the Lottery terminals and if he was possibly the fictitious owner of AP Solutions.
Public data for the company Retron Kopi on Facebook then also revealed photos from 2016 of Artan Ajrul and Pëparim Bajram, who at that time had no position in the State Lottery.
From the analysis of the tenders, however, it turned out that from January 2022, the period when Pëparim Bajrami took the post of general director of the State Lottery, the winner of the tenders was the company Ritron Kopi in joint stock company.
Bajrami and the former Deputy Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Artan Grubi, are wanted by local authorities on international arrest warrants as suspects of “embezzlement of illegal wealth” from the State Lottery.
The Bureau of Public Procurement informs that the State Lottery has signed six contracts with this company for the purchase of televisions, computer and communication equipment, multifunctional devices and television drawing graphic stations.
The contracts were concluded in the period from June 2022 to mid-October 2023. Their value was 365,252 euros.
After the departure of Përparim Bajrami from the leadership position, the State Lottery terminated the framework contracts and no longer uses their services.
