Skopje, 24 December 2024 (MIA) – The State Commission for the Prevention of Corruption has concluded that there is no basis for action on the question of conflict of interest and corruption in the appointment of Bojan Hristovski as National Security Agency (NSA) director. At a session on Tuesday, the anti-corruption commission established that Hristovski meets the requirements for appointment under the Law on the National Security Agency, stressing however that it does not have the competence to directly examine some of the documents.

According to the claims submitted, there are doubts about the legality of the security clearance, the validity of Hristovski's higher education diploma, English language certificate and work experience. The anti-corruption commission was called to take all necessary actions to establish responsibility in terms of corruption and conflict of interest.

The commission has launched a procedure of obtaining documents and received the documents from the competent institutions. According to the commission, all the submitted documents were in line with the requirements for the appointment.

State Commission for the Prevention of Corruption member Cveta Ristovska said the citizenship requirements as well as the higher education requirements have been met.

"Based on doubts about the validity of the submitted documents, the State Commission for the Prevention of Corruption, acting within its competence, requested an extraordinary inspection from the State Education Inspectorate at the aforementioned faculty in order to check the submitted certificates and diplomas for acquired 240, i.e. 180 credits. The State Education Inspectorate submitted a letter stating that no irregularity was found in the university's operations, i.e. the submitted certificates and diplomas were issued in accordance with legal regulations," Ristovska said, adding that the anti-corruption commission does not have the competence to directly examine the documents.

As regards the requirement for 12 years of work experience, of which five years in managerial positions, the commission said that the Government has provided proof that he has work experience.

"With documents from the Employment Agency, employment contracts and decisions on his appointment, the person meets the legal requirements for work experience," said Ristovska. 

On the requirement to possess an internationally recognized certificate of proficiency in English, not older than five years, the anti-corruption commission said that the person had submitted a certificate issued in 2022 which formally and legally meets the legal criteria.

"Due to doubts about the authenticity of the aforementioned certificate, the State Commission for the Prevention of Corruption points out that it does not have the competence to examine and establish the authenticity of documents that require expertise outside its competences, in accordance with the law. The jurisdiction lies with the Basic Public Prosecutor's Office where a criminal complaint has been filed, and the document is valid until proven otherwise," Ristovska said. 

According to the anti-corruption commission, the requirements that he has not been banned from practising a profession, that he is not a member of a political party and that he has completed a security clearance are also valid.

"The Government submitted evidence that security clearance has been conducted, and the person holds a security clearance certificate. The security clearance has been conducted for his previous employment at the Ministry of Interior. This certificate meets the requirements up to the time of assuming the post of director. Upon assuming the post, testing was conducted at the level of state-secret confidentiality. The implementation of this procedure further confirms the person's compliance with the post," said Ristovska. 

Regarding the requirement that no procedure has been initiated for the existence of a conflict of interest, a statement has been submitted in the documentation noting that no conflict of interest has been established, according to which the anti-corruption commission considers that this requirement has also been met.

The anti-corruption commission's decision comes after the appointment of the National Security Agency director, Bojan Hristovski, was disputed over his English language certificate, regarding which there are suspicions that it was issued by an unauthorized language studio in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, connected to cases of issuance of falsified documents, his higher education diploma, the validity of which was suspected in terms of the University of Tourism and Management in Skopje, as well as his work experience documents, whereby it was questioned whether Hristovski had a sufficient number of years of experience in management positions, as provided for by the legal requirements. These suspicions were the subject of an investigation by the anti-corruption commission and other competent institutions.
Photo: MIA archive