Leaders of institutions in North Macedonia have welcomed the decision of the United States to add Macedonian businessman Jordan Orce Kamchev to the blacklist. At the same time, they expressed regret over the failure of local justice authorities to combat organized crime.

On Wednesday, the U.S. blacklisted businessman Jordan Orce Kamchev for corrupt acts suspected to have been committed since 2000.

According to the Office of Foreign Assets Control within the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Kamchev “has engaged in corrupt activities and pursued a selfish agenda at the expense of the institutions and citizens of North Macedonia”.

North Macedonia’s Justice Minister Krenar Lloga said on Thursday that Kamchev “is the main sponsor of the destruction of the Special Public Prosecutor’s Office”, which was established in 2016 to prosecute officials suspected of corruption and organized crime before being disbanded three years later due to the involvement of its leaders in corrupt activities.

“With Mr. Kamchev, what was expected to happen happened, something that the justice institutions here are not doing. Kamchev is one of the main sponsors of the destruction of the Special Public Prosecutor’s Office and his name is associated with many other problems in the country today. I am pleased that he is on the U.S. blacklist, but I express great regret that the judiciary authorities of North Macedonia did not see him as the ordinary citizen does,” Lloga said.

He stated that the Ministry of Justice does not have the competence to intervene in the judiciary but added that as a member of the Judicial Council, he will raise the issue before this body.

Despite this stance, U.S. Ambassador to Skopje Angela Aggeler said on Thursday that institutions must act and punish all individuals involved in corruption.

“The public deserves reliable institutions that uphold democratic values, transparency, and without compromise. For North Macedonia to continue its path of prosperity, which it has set as a goal, corruption must be investigated. Actors involved in corruption must inevitably face the consequences in accordance with the law,” said Aggeler in a press conference, where she clarified the U.S. decision to blacklist the Macedonian businessman.

Jordan Orce Kamchev is a relative of the former head of the Macedonian secret police Sašo Mijalkov, and former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, both of whom have also been sentenced to long prison terms for abuse of power and are facing other criminal proceedings.

In a case known as the “Vodno Parcels”, Kamchev pleaded guilty to involvement in a money laundering scheme related to the illegal purchase of land for construction.

He was sentenced to one year in prison but spent his time in pre-trial detention from March 2021 to January 2022 when he was released on a bail guarantee of 11 million euros, promising not to evade justice regarding other investigations, including the “Empire” case involving money laundering and other abuses.

Kamchev is the director of the company “Orka Holding”, founded in 1990 by his father.

He had links with another company “Eksiko”, which according to the Investigative Reporting Lab (IRL), only existed “on paper”. The owners of this company, linked to many other companies abroad, were mainly used for illegal activities.

“It served to open or buy other companies,” according to IRL’s investigation.

Through foreign companies, he had influence in every sphere, including agriculture, medicine, hotels, banking, textiles, and media. There was hardly any sector where he did not have ownership stakes, according to IRL.

Some of these companies are suspected of winning tenders worth tens of millions of euros.

Kamchev is a co-owner of the private hospital “Sistina” in Skopje, as well as many other businesses inside and outside North Macedonia.

He expanded his business to Bulgaria with a chain of hospitals and, together with Russian businessman Sergei Samsonenko, they also operate in Russia.

U.S. Ambassador Angela Aggeler emphasized that other individuals suspected of involvement in corruption and organized crime may also be added to the blacklist, which, according to her, undermines the trust of citizens in the democratic institutions of North Macedonia.