How the Skopje Fair, a historic and beloved icon, fell into the hands of a wealthy Albanian businessman

The sprawling “East Gate” shopping center and the luxurious apartments of “East Gate Living” were more than just feats of construction. Behind these gleaming new developments lies a political story – beneath the surface, whispers of shady deals swirl, as Samir Mane’s interests seem to align a little too conveniently with political maneuvering. The citizens of Skopje are now left paying the price—3 million euros, to be exact—for a project that some say put profit before the people.

Reporting: Bojan Stojanovski, Ivan Blazhevski

More than 20 years ago, Macedonian authorities promised to build a business center in Skopje by renovating and expanding the old Skopje fairgrounds. Thousands of jobs would be created. The project would provide a sustainable income for public investments to boost the local economy at a time when Macedonian municipalities struggled with debt and dependency on the central government. Instead, the public land and a major cultural landmark in Skopje ended up in the hands of private persons. Six years ago the city’s Skopje Fair building – one of Macedonia’s finest examples of modern architecture – was torn apart to make space for a “strategic investment,” on the 150,000 square meter site, as then – prime minister at the time Zoran Zaev described the plan. That strategic investment turned out to be a privately developed shopping center and luxury residential buildings in a country where the 2021 census found that almost 40 percent of the apartments in North Macedonia are empty.

Skopje residents witnessed the destruction of a beloved site for social events that had been home to popular concerts and book fairs. As soon as the first new owners, the Slovenian company ERA took over, it was clear that the Skopje Fair was headed for the dust heap. But how it all happened remained a mystery – until now.

A year – long investigation by reporters for Investigative Reporting Lab (IRL) and a reporter for the Organized Crime and Corruption Project (OCCRP) based in Albania revealed dubious contracts that damaged the city’s finances and brought harmful urbanization – the result of questionable influence trading. 

Skopje without a fair for six years 

Skopje has been without its iconic Skopje Fair (Skopski Saem), since 2018. Established in 1972 by two prominent architects— Blagoj Micevski, and Slavko Gjurich—this landmark was a key part of the city’s identity. Right next to the Skopje Fair, in the same year 1972, the Continental Hotel was built to accommodate visitors to the events organized at the Skopje Fair.  

The complex consisted of six interconnected halls and held significant cultural and historical value, not just for Skopje but for all of Macedonia. Over the years, these halls hosted countless events, among the most notable was the 1972 international Chess Olympiad.

Skopje Fair was also a hub for cultural events. Iconic artists such as Bob Dylan, Kraftwerk, Moloko, and beloved Macedonian performers like Simon Trpchevski and Toshe Proeski all performed there. But, Skopje Fair wasn’t just about entertainment—it also hosted events that became symbols of modern Skopje, such as the Book Fair, Fashion Week, Furniture Fair, and Wine Festival.

With its destruction, this iconic symbol of the city disappeared. It wasn’t just a sentimental loss for Skopje; it also marked the loss of a significant piece of contemporary Macedonian architecture. And a series of complex and opaque deals led to the construction of a shopping mall by an Albanian billionaire – Samir Mane.

Extravagant Plans for Skopje Fair

Skopje Fair’s buildings and location has long attracted powerful businesses who saw it as a lucrative opportunity.They viewed the venue not only as a way to capitalize on its historical significance but also to benefit from its prime position near the city center, close to the eastern entrance to North Macedonia’s capital city.

The idea of building a business center, or a “City Within a City,” has been around since 2003, when it was first discussed by government and business leaders. The Slovenian company ERA, owned by Gvido Omladic, in 2005 bought the 155,000 square meter Skopje Fair site. The company announced plans for a project called Era City, promising to invest 150 million euros to build a commercial building with three underground levels and 10 floors, which would make it the largest business center in the country. ERA also  announced plans to build a shopping mall.

The project was promoted as promising to create 1,000 new jobs, which were desperately needed at the time due to high unemployment and the fragile state of Macedonia’s post – transitional economy. In 2003, the unemployment rate in Macedonia stood at 36.7%, one of the highest in Europe, according to the State Statistics Office.

In February 2008, ERA began construction on the Era City Skopje project by laying the foundation and digging a large hole, which they fenced off. However, construction did not continue. By 2010, media reports said that ERA did not have the financial capacity to complete the project. ERA had already obtained a building permit and paid the necessary utilities—3 million euros—in 2008 to Gazi Baba Municipality, where the site was located, and to the City of Skopje.

In 2011, ERA announced that the company was halting the construction of Era City Skopje due to the global economic crisis.

“The economic crisis has forced us to suspend this investment. We will provide more information about whether the commercial – shopping center will resume construction and what our next steps will be once we have further details,” said ERA in 2011.

ERA began seeking a partner and, in 2012, announced a planned Turkish – Slovenian collaboration. The company Turk – Mol was supposed to complete the complex with ERA, but this partnership did not materialize.

In the summer of 2017, Macedonian media reported that the Bulgarian company CardFinans had acquired Skopje Fair by purchasing it from Komercijalna Banka Skopje and NLB Banka. The ERA affiliated companies associated with Skopje Fair had taken out a credit loan from these banks, using the land around the former halls as collateral. Soon, it was reported that Albanian businessman Samir Mane’s Balfin Group had bought Skopje Fair from CardFinans. All of this information is incorrect.

Skopje East Gate SEG, the company that is now developing the site and whose majority owner is Mane, told IRL that the land occupied by their shopping mall and apartments was not bought from CardFinans, the Bulgarian company that had acquired the site from ERA, but instead from the banks. 

“Skopje East Gate SEG has purchased the land (in 2017) on which the East Gate project is being built after the execution procedure was completed from two banks in Macedonia. According to the purchase and sale agreement, the land and the buildings that were built on this land were purchased with all auditions [existing buildings],” the company said in a statement to IRL. The purchase price was 16.2 million euros.

Governments hands over private deals 

In 2017, Macedonia underwent tectonic political shifts. After a decade of absolute power at both the national and local levels, the conservative party VMRO-DPMNE was relegated to the opposition. Social Democrat Zoran Zaev succeeded Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and promised to fight corruption and influence peddling—issues that had earned Macedonia the label of a captured state, controlled by an authoritarian government and its corporate partners. 

The new SDSM government promised to ease red tape that businesses faced, and create a stable, legal environment to encourage economic growth and attract new investments. The potential for new developments at the site of the Skopje Fair had not been forgotten, due to its enduring business potential, as evidenced by new companies stepping forward to seek to demolish it and build a shopping center. Underpinning the plan by SDSM was to show the world that the country was open for investment and had a stable, and hassle – free business environment as it was poised to join NATO.

Concerns over property rights, mortgage loans, and the destruction of Skopje Fair brought the issue to public attention. A longtime dispute between CardFinans and the Gazi Baba municipality – about whether the company would be given the right to develop the site, and acquire the property – led the new national government to distance itself, claiming it had no authority to intervene in private business matters.

As Kocho Angjushev, the Vice Prime Minister for Economy, who joined the government, nominated by the Chamber of Commerce of Macedonia said:.

“The government has no capacity or right to interfere in the dealings between banks and legal entities in Macedonia,” Angjushev stated in October 2017, just three months after assuming the role of Deputy Prime Minister in Zoran Zaev’s Social Democrat government.

That same month, shortly after Angjushev made his remarks, Macedonian media had incorrectly reported that the Albanian company Balfin had purchased Skopje Fair from the Bulgarian company CardFinans instead of from the banks, as Skopje East GateSEG told IRL in a statement.

How Samir Mane’s business vision transformed a cultural and architectural Landmark into – a mall 

A year after Angjushev said that Zaev’s administration was taking a hands off approach about the future of the Skopje Fair site, demolition began. Media reports in October 2018 revealed that Mane, the Albanian developer, had initiated the demolition to make way for East Gate Mall and East Gate Living, planned as a residential complex.

However, the demolition caused outrage among the families of the architects who originally designed Skopje Fair  and sparked an angry reply.  In a letter addressed to then Prime Minister Zoran Zaev and then Mayor of Skopje Petre Shilegov, family members urged that this city landmark be preserved. Titled “The Fair Is Also Skopje,” the letter stated:

“Today, this facility has been sentenced to execution without the citizens or the professional community being consulted. We, the children of the planners, simply cannot accept that the cultural, historical, professional, and even the emotional legacy of our fathers could turn to dust in an instant and be forgotten.” 

Balfin Group, which had bought the Skopje Fair property in 2017 from the banks, then announced that the project would require an investment of approximately 300 million euros.

IRL, through public information requests, sought all the documents relevant to the construction of East Gate Mall and East Gate Living from the Municipality of Gazi Baba, the Agency for Cadastre, which has land records that are publicly available, and the State Attorney’s Office, the main prosecutor for Skopje.

The trove of documents obtained by IRL show how the serpentine process of building East Gate complex evolved as the property changed hands at least three times, and there was a complex series of financial dealings. First there was a mortgage held by Slovenian company ERA. Next there was a new mortgage loan held by Bulgarian company CardFinans, then new business operations of a Skopje bank and Balfin Group including the acquisition of an investment in a bank in Albania’ then an attempt through bankrupt companies connected with former Skopje Fair to extract millions of euros from North Macedonia by CardFinans of Bulgaria. Add to that, unexplained political decisions by the Gaza Baba Municipal Council which changed its position on altering the urban plan after more than two years of opposition. After all this, the East Gate complex started to be built.

Mortgages, Banks, Deals

The construction of East Gate Mall was embroiled in national politics too. The SDSM – led government believed there was political value in constructing a modern shopping center, hoping it would earn them political points ahead of the 2021 local elections, and showing the outside world that Macedonia was open for investment. Zaev even showed up at the construction site several times, promising that the mall would open before the local election. But there turned out to be little political benefit. SDSM ultimately lost many of the local elections. Three days before the elections, on October 28, 2021, East Gate Mall was officially opened.

At the opening on October 28, 2021, Zaev touted the project, saying that the mall would create 2,500 new jobs and that 90% of the companies involved in its construction were domestic.

“All our decisions aim to create fair market conditions, better competitiveness, and the development of the private sector,” Zaev said during opening ceremonies on October 28, 2021.

However, the process of acquiring the land around the old Skopje Fair and its halls had been less than transparent. The entire property was mortgaged, with 60% held by Komercijalna Banka and 40% by NLB Banka.

The financial arrangements that led to Balfin Group taking over the Skopje Fair site  began on September 19, 2017, when a purchase agreement for the property, which was included in the public records IRL obtained, was signed through the notary Majlinda Aidari.

The sellers were Komercijalna Banka and NLB Banka, and the buyer was the company Skopje East Gate SEG, which public records show that Mane owned 60% as the principal investor in the East Gate Mall and East Gate Living projects.

The purchase price was 16.2 million euros. To secure the deal, Skopje East Gate SEG received a monetary guarantee of 1.5 million euros from NLB Banka. The agreement outlined the payment terms, stating in Section 4.3:

“The price will be paid 40% with the buyer’s funds and 60% through approved credit from the banks. By the time this Agreement was concluded, a long – term denar loan with a foreign currency clause had already been arranged with NLB Banka, and a similar long – term denar loan with a foreign exchange clause had been secured with Komercijalna Banka.” 

Skopje East Gate SEG committed to paying 40% of the 16.2 million euros to the banks: 2.592 million euros to NLB Banka and 3.888 million euros to Komercijalna Banka, the documents show. The total amount Skopje East Gate SEG committed to pay is 6.48 million euros, public records show..

Still, 9.72 million euros remained to be paid to cover the purchase price of 16.2 million euros. 

To cover this, Skopje East Gate SEG took out a credit loаn from the same two banks, despite the existing mortgage for the plot that the two banks also held. They secured 3.888 million euros from NLB Banka and 5.832 million euros from Komercijalna Banka – a total of 9.72 million euros, or more than the 6.48 million euros East Gate had committed to pay to the banks. This occurred on September 19, 2017, when the contract for the sale of the Skopje Fair property was signed.

Not long after this, Balfin and Komercijanlna Banka bought Tirana Bank, Albania’s first private bank. Balfin bought 88,95 % of the bank for 26,5 million euros, and an additional 1,17% for 314,745 euros. Komercijalna bought 9.88% for 2.5 million euros. The total purchase price was 29.314.745 euros.

Skopje East Gate SEG is jointly owned by the Balfin Group, Dutch-owned Piaz Investment, which has the same address as Balfin’s office in the Netherlands, and Skopje-based Arsim and Jeta Papraniku. According to the Central Registry of Macedonia, which keeps track of businesses, the principal owner, holding over 60% of the company, is Albanian billionaire Samir Mane.

Following Balfin’s acquisition of land at the Skopje Fair and a substantial financial involvement by Komercijalna Banka, led by CEO Hari Kostov—who is known for his significant wealth, —both Balfin and Komercijalna Banka engaged in new business activities a year and a half later, even as Balfin had a debt of about 5 million euros to the bank. 

Macedonian media reported at the time that Balfin and Komercijalna Banka had acquired Tirana Bank in Albania. Established in 1996, Tirana Bank is Albania’s first private bank with 39 branches.

According to data from OpenCorporates.al, the Albanian government’s online site that records such transactions, the purchase of Tirana Bank occurred on February 28, 2019. 

Piraeus Bank S.A, the owner of Tirana Bank up until that moment, sold 446,488 shares to Balfin for 26.5 million euros, representing 88.95% of the bank’s capital. An additional 1.17% of capital was purchased by Balfin from shareholder Ioannis Tsivelis for 314,745 euros, giving Balfin a total of 90.12% of Tirana Bank’s capital.

On that same day, Komercijalna Banka Skopje purchased 9.88% of Tirana Bank (49,610 shares) from Piraeus Bank S.A. for 2.5 million euros.

After this transaction, Balfin and Komercijalna Banka remained partners in Tirana Bank for over a year and a half. But, on November 18, 2020, Komercijalna Banka sold its 9.88% stake to Balfin for 2,722,100 euros—approximately 200,000 euros more than the initial purchase price. In an email, Komercijalna Banka said that its reasons for selling its stake to Balfin are “a business secret and are not of interest to the public.”

Investment in East Gate by Companies from the Netherlands

Balfin’s links to Skopje East Gate SEG began modestly. On April 10, 2017, lawyer Zeqir Zeqiri registered a new company with the Central Registry of Macedonia. Skopje East Gate SEG was established to invest in the construction of East Gate Mall and the residential complex East Gate Living.

Today, the owners of Skopje East Gate SEG include Arsim and Ilir Papraniku, who are brothers and are based in Skopje; and are the owners of, Piaz Investment; and Balfin, both registered at the same address in Amsterdam, Netherlands. However, according to the Macedonian Central Registry, the principal owner of Skopje East Gate SEG, with 60% ownership, is Samir Mane.

Initially, the founding capital of Skopje East Gate SEG was modest, like that of any typical Macedonian company, beginning with a cash investment of 5,000 euros. In the beginning, Arsim Papraniku served as both the owner and the manager. In September 2017, Balfin contributed 3,000 euros to the founding capital, while Piaz Investment from the Netherlands added 1,140 euros. But, Jeta Papraniku, Arsim’s wife, joined the founding capital by contributing only 430 euros.

By October 2017, significant investments began flowing into the company, turning the modest founding capital from thousands to millions. The Papraniku brothers each invested the same, exact amount of 3,494,497 euros. Piaz Investment from the Netherlands contributed 9,133,253 euros, while Balfin added 24,183,373 euros. The total monetary contribution to Skopje East Gate SEG ended up being 40,305,617 euros. Since its establishment in 2017, Skopje East Gate SEG has recorded 37 changes in the Central Register.

Among those 37 were 21 individual investments to fund the construction of the East Gate Mall complex.

In addition to Skopje East Gate SEG, two other companies were formed: Skopje East Gate Mall and Skopje East Gate Living. According to the North Macedonia’s Central Registry, these are subsidiaries of Skopje East Gate SEG. The majority owner of both is, once again, Samir Mane.

Skopje East Gate Mall was registered on March 5, 2019, with an initial cash deposit of 5,000 euros. However, after just two years, the capital increased significantly, with a total of 34,386,500 euros in monetary contributions from the parent company Skopje East Gate SEG, and 9,217,310 euros in non – monetary contributions, which included the land where the Skopje Fair had been located.

Skopje East Gate Living, responsible for the residential portion of the complex, was established on February 28, 2019, with a monetary contribution of 5,000 euros and a non – monetary contribution of 2,921,200 euros. All three companies were established during a period before the approval of amendments to the Detailed Urban Plan (DUP) by the Gazi Baba government. That approval was needed to allow construction to proceed for the location intended for the East Gate complex. Without these amendments, which were made after members of the Gazi Baba council in 2019 dropped their long – standing opposition for mysterious reasons, Mane would have been unable to proceed with constructing the largest shopping center in North Macedonia. 

Despite this, preparations and fundraising continued by Skopje East Gate SEG even in the absence of a key approval from the Municipality of Gazi Baba that was needed before construction could begin.

What was once wrong, became irrelevant overnight

The preparation for the East Gate complex spanned two years. Samir Mane’s companies introduced foreign capital into North Macedonia and secured loans from commercial banks, but they lacked the necessary changes to the Detailed Urban Plan (DUP) for City Quarter CS-09 in Gazi Baba, which was crucial for the construction to begin.

And initially, they had trouble getting the needed permission.

Following the 2017 local elections, the SDSM party secured a strong position at the municipal level, with their candidates winning mayoral positions in almost all municipalities, including Gazi Baba. Boris Georgievski from SDSM became the mayor, but the council majority was held by the opposition VMRO – DPMNE. This meant that VMRO – DPMNE had the authority to approve new plans and amendments to existing ones in the urban plan. 

To amend the urban plan, Mane and his companies needed support from VMRO – DPMNE’s councilors.

But, for nine months, the necessary amendments to the plan were not put on the agenda. On August 30, 2019, during the 27th session of the council, VMRO – DPMNE councilors requested a specific change in the agenda – the removal of the DUP amendment item. According to the meeting minutes, a representative from the Skopje Fair was also present – this representative was linked to the Slovenian company ERA, which was supposed to construct the “City Within a City.” Aleksandar Trajkovski, a council member from VMRO – DPMNE, also spoke at the meeting on behalf of his party:

“We, as councilors, have received a ruling from the Higher Administrative Court that favored the previous investor, annulling the second-degree decision (against the previous investor]  made by the Minister of Transport and Communications. This information has been provided to everyone present here. If the council makes a wrong decision, it could place the municipality in a difficult position, leading to penalties and lost profits totaling 13 million euros in the future. We must avoid this situation. Therefore, I suggest removing this item from the proposed agenda,” the minutes of the 27th session on August 30, 2019, state. While he did not name the previous investor, it appears from documents obtained by IRL that Trajkovski was referring to ERA.

But the councilors from SDSM opposed the move to strike the item from the agenda. They even announced that they would file a misdemeanor charge against the then – president of the municipal council, Toni Bojkovski, of VMRO – DPMNE, if the changes to the urban plan for East Gate were removed from the agenda again.

“As an advisory group, we believe that removing the items related to the DUP would harm the President of the Council by leading to punishment and fines. To avoid this, I think these points should remain on the agenda and be discussed,” said SDSM councilor Milica Bubalo.

Aleksandar Trajkovski from VMRO – DPMNE raised concerns about potential criminal implications:

“Article 61 of the Council Operation Rules of the Gazi Baba Municipality allows us to remove items from the agenda based on previously explained reasons. There is a ruling from the Higher Administrative Court. If the developer proceeds with construction and we pass changes to the DUP that include a street, how will someone who has paid 3 million euros for utilities proceed with construction? We are being coerced into criminal activity. Even if the President of the Council faces multiple penalties, we will not allow the municipality to be jeopardized by this government’s criminal motives and business interests. This Proposal-DUP will not be passed in the interest of the municipality,” Trajkovski stated.

With 14 votes from VMRO – DPMNE councilors, the agenda was amended, and item 79 regarding the DUP amendment was removed.

However, just one month later, on September 30, 2019, the Gazi Baba Council held its 28th session, and the same item, listed as number 16, was back on the agenda. And this time it was approved, with many councilors reversing their previous opposition to having the item on the agenda. It is not clear what changed to allow the needed permission to move forward.

The 16th item was: “Proposal – Decision to amend and supplement the Detailed Urban Plan for City Quarter CS 09.” This change was crucial for Balfin and Samir Mane to proceed with the East Gate complex.

Although just 30 days prior, VMRO – DPMNE councilors had warned of criminal activity related to the amendments to the DUP for East Gate. They had claimed that the changes were being made under dubious business influences to the detriment of the Gazi Baba municipal budget with millions in penalties. Yet this time for unexplained reasons they decided to support the amendments to the Detailed Urban Plan, opening the way for Mane to build the mall. 

“For the first time in the history of the municipality, political pressure has forced the adoption of a Proposal – Decision. This pressure began with a proposal to initiate misdemeanor proceedings against the President of the Council, despite his actions being in full accordance with the law. This point was consistently included in council sessions. According to the information we have, if this Proposal-Decision is not adopted today, the Government through the Ministry of Transport and Communications will revoke the municipality’s authority in urban planning. Therefore, the advisory group of the coalition ‘For a Better Macedonia’ will support this Proposal-Decision,” Aleksandar Trajkovski from VMRO-DPMNE explained, as recorded in the minutes of the September 30, 2019 session.

After Trajkovski’s presentation, his party colleague Dr. Sasho Kutleshovski, representing the advisory group of VMRO – DPMNE, requested a 15 – minute break, supported by five advisors.

Following the break, the then – mayor Boris Georgievski (SDSM) denied any government pressure to approve the amendments to the DUP or threats to strip the municipal council of its authority.

The item was then put to a vote. With 22 votes in favor, the amendments to the Detailed Urban Plan (DUP) were approved, with VMRO – DPMNE councilors, after nine months of opposition, finally voting in support of Samir Mane and the Balfin Group.

Records show that Skopje East Gate SEG received a building permit in March 2019 – about six months before the change in the DUP was approved.

Skopje East Gate SEG, builders of the mall and the residential complex, told IRL that to finally obtain for the needed changes of the Detailed Urban Plan (DUP)  of the planning quarter CS – 09 they did not have meetings with any of the political parties. Skopje East Gate SEG’s representatives, the company said, were only at the sessions of the Gazi Baba municipality, where they followed the discussions of the councilors as members of the public to try to understand why the changes to the plan were not put on the agenda.  

On June 14, 2024,  IRL emailed questions to the Gazi Baba Municipality. We sought to understand why the councilors initially opposed and later supported the changes to the Detailed Urban Plan (DUP), whether there was any pressure on them to support or reject the changes, and why they agreed to the changes knowing it could lead to a lawsuit for the municipality and require Gazi Baba to return the 1.2 million euros collected from the Skopje Fair for utilities, as well as face millions in compensation claims. However, the Municipality of Gazi Baba did not respond, and Aleksandar Trajkovski, the public relations officer, did not answer the phone either.

Former Gazi Baba mayor Boris Georgievski told IRL that, from 2017 to 2019, VMRO-DPMNE exerted political pressure to prevent the adoption of changes to the Detailed Urban Plan (DUP), which had meant that the East Gate project could not move ahead.

“The amendments to the DUP were consistently removed from council sessions based on prior consultations and instructions from the White House (VMRO – DPMNE headquarter). Only those who issued the orders at the White House understand the motives behind such actions. Two entire years were wasted due to significant political interference and motives,” Georgievski told IRL.

Georgievski asserts that the decision to alter the urban plan did not result in any financial damage to the budget of the Municipality of Gazi Baba or the City of Skopje, as East Gate had paid all the necessary utilities for both the shopping center and the residential complex.

“According to the City of Skopje’s calculation from December 15, 2019, the total compensation amounts to 358,483,231 denars (5.8 million euros). Of this amount, 215,089,939 denars (3.4 million euros) or 60% is allocated to the City, and 143,393,292 denars (2.3 million euros) or 40% to the Municipality. These figures pertain solely to the utilities for the East Gate shopping center. The costs for the buildings currently under construction must also be considered,” Georgievski added.

But there was a problem: where would the municipality and the city of Skopje find the funds to return the 3 million euros collected from the Skopje Fair for utilities? Most of it had already been spent as it was incorporated into the city’s annual budget, according to city officials.

And the angry opponents of the deal had begun to extract substantial funds from the Skopje Fair.

Citizens Will Still Have to Pay 3 Million Euros

After the political negotiations and the subsequent amendment to the Detailed Urban Plan (DUP), the citizens of Skopje now have a modern shopping center, the East Gate Mall, but the cost of political decisions will be borne by the taxpayers. And the reasons why remain murky.

Despite knowing that the changes to the DUP would cost millions of euros (ERA had already paid 3 million euros for utilities and likely would want that returned) , the councilors from both VMRO – DPMNE and SDSM decided together to amend the plan and proceed with the East Gate complex.

In 2020, companies affiliated with ERA, Skopski Saem DOOEL Skopje (in bankruptcy), Saem Invest DOOEL Skopje (in bankruptcy), and Expo Media Center DOOEL Skopje – initiated court proceedings against the City of Skopje and the Municipality of Gazi Baba before the Civil Court.

They demanded the return of paid utilities they paid for the construction of the “City Within a City” project announced by the Slovenian group ERA. This amounts to 110,190,494 denars (approximately 1.8 million euros), plus legal default interest calculated based on the reference rate of the National Bank, increased by 10 percentage points from the date of the lawsuit, November 13, 2020.

However, the Civil Court rejected the request from Skopski Saem DOOEL Skopje (in bankruptcy), Saem Invest DOOEL Skopje (in bankruptcy), and Expo Media Center DOOEL Skopje to award them additional interest calculated from 2008, when they paid the utilities, amounting to nearly 1.8 million euros, or interest equivalent to the amount paid.

On January 31, 2008, the plaintiffs had received a building permit for the Skopje Fair, which became valid on February 6, 2008. Previously, on December 19, 2007, they had paid nearly 1.8 million euros into the city treasury for the arrangement of construction land.

But 10 years later, on September 19, 2017, Samir Mane’s company, Skopje East Gate SEG, purchased the pledged space at the Skopje Fair from Komercijalna Banka and NLB Banka.

On August 20, 2018, Gazi Baba made a change and registered Skopje East Gate SEG as the new investor and canceled the existing building permits of the suing companies. From November 13, 2019 to January 2, 2020, ERA’s building permits and other approvals were canceled. Skopje East Gate SEG still managed to receive a building permit in March 2019 without an amended DUP.

Regarding this, the Civil Court’s judgment published on October 20, 2022, states:

“Despite having valid approvals for the construction of the mentioned cadastral plots, another legal entity began construction work. The plaintiffs submitted a request to the construction inspection at the Municipality of Gazi Baba on September 13, 2019, to determine who had usurped the construction plot and whether construction permits were issued to another entity,” the judgment states.

The City of Skopje appealed the decision. However, the Court of Appeal ruled that the complaint was unfounded and that the city should return the paid utilities. The explanation from the appellate judges stated:

“The plaintiffs paid 110,190,494 denars to the defendant. Despite having valid approvals for the construction of the specified cadastral plots, construction work was carried out by another legal entity. The plaintiffs submitted a letter titled Request to the Construction Inspection at the Municipality of Gazi Baba, with an acceptance stamp dated September 13, 2019, seeking information on who had usurped the construction plot and whether construction permits had been issued to another entity for the construction work,” the appellate judges wrote.

On September 13, 2021, the Supreme Court also ruled on the matter.

“According to the Supreme Court of the Republic of North Macedonia, the allegations in the revision concerning the incorrect application of substantive law are unfounded. The lower courts correctly applied the substantive law based on the established factual situation by the first-instance court, which was fully accepted by the second-instance court, when they upheld the plaintiffs’ claim,” states the Supreme Court ruling.

A portion of the utility payments had ended up in the coffers of Gazi Baba Municipality, with a 60% allocation to the City and 40% to the Municipality. Nearly 1.8 million euros were paid to the City of Skopje, and approximately 1.2 million euros to Gazi Baba.

Gazi Baba Municipality did not respond to IRL’s inquiries.

While the legal case against the City of Skopje is  concluded, three active proceedings are ongoing before the Civil Court against the Municipality of Gazi Baba. The companies in bankruptcy from the Skopje Fair are demanding the return of 1.2 million euros for previously paid utilities, along with claims totaling six million euros for compensation for material damage against both Gazi Baba and East Gate.

Regarding the lawsuits against them from the companies owned by the Bulgarian Cardfinans, Skopje East Gate SEG said in a statement to IRL:  

„The company has never any debt – creditor relations with the above mentioned, and as such these disputes are irrelevant for us as a company, which will be proven in the court proceeding, and these companies will have to claim alleged claims from the creditors with whom they had debt – creditor relations“, says Skopje East Gate SEG   

Criminal complaint by Bankruptcy Trustee filed against Bulgarian Company CardFinans

The bankruptcy trustee overseeing became concerned about money flowing into Bulgaria by CardFinans as he was managing the bankruptcies of four companies that had been part of the ERA project Skopje Fair AD – Skopski Saem LLC, Saem Invest LLC, Expo Media LLC, and Saem Trgovski Centar LLC, later renamed Expo Media Center. Trustee Dragi Momirovski, had learned of the transfer of 300,000 euros to Bulgaria on May 23, 2023. The complaint against CardFinans, Expo Media Center, and Saem Invest, prevented CardFinans from undertaking any more money transfers out of North Macedonia.

Momirovski is concerned that CardFinans may attempt to extract profits from these bankrupt companies ranging from four to six million euros by filing civil court lawsuits.

CardFinans is largely unknown in the North Macedonian business landscape.

Despite its obscurity, CardFinans is still involved in the affairs surrounding the former old Skopje Fair. The company is attempting to recover the three million euros paid by ERA – whose assets it later acquired – for utilities back in 2008 and is seeking an additional six million euros in damages. This claim is based on its purchase of shares in the companies Saem Invest and Skopje Saem for less than 100 euros. This connection prompted the bankruptcy trustee to intervene and file a criminal complaint to stop CardFinans from withdrawing money from the one of the companies that had not filed for bankruptcy.. The trustee represents the creditors of the bankrupt companies Skopski Saem and Saem Invest, and Expo Media Center, a company not yet in bankruptcy, from which CardFinans has already withdrawn 300,000 euros.

CardFinans first came to public attention when media reports in 2017 said that the Skopje Fair project, then managed by ERA, was purchased by CardFinans from Bulgaria and subsequently sold to the Balfin Group. However, official documents reviewed by IRL do not indicate any business transactions between CardFinans and the Balfin Group. The media coverage coverage thus appears to have reflected a non – existent contract and business relationship.

According to the bankruptcy’s trustee’s complaint, CardFinans is seeking to recover the 3 million euros for utilities paid in 2008 by Saem Invest to the City of Skopje and the Municipality of Gazi Baba. In 2017, CardFinans acquired shares of Saem Invest and Skopski Saem for 100 euros, a ridiculously low amount:

The complaint said that CardFinans, as the owner of the two companies now in bankruptcy, is trying to keep Expo Media Center commercially active to extract money from it. .

“CardFinans DOOEL is making every effort to keep Expo Media Center operational in order to channel funds back to itself through that entity,” the criminal complaint states. 

According to the bankruptcy trustee, Cardfinans’ goal is to keep Expo Media Center alive in every possible way so that it can continue to try to extract three million euros, money that the Slovenian company ERA paid for utilities in 2008. 

On September 22, 2017, Expo Media Center – now owned by CardFinans – entered into a Assignment of Claims Agreement with Saem Invest for two amounts: 183,650,824 denars for paid utilities and 20,000,000 denars for an advance payment that Gazi Baba Municipality was to return to Expo Media Center—a company that later came under a ban by the bankruptcy trustee preventing asset disposal as of November 7, 2018. According to the criminal complaint, 20 million denars, or over 300,000 euros, were transferred from Expo Media Center  to CardFinans.

From the listing of changes on the Expo Media Center account following the payment of these 20 million denars, the following outflows are noted:

“Payment according to Form 3 on November 8, 2018, in the amount of 3,623,551 denars; payment by fee on November 15, 2018, for three invoices from lawyer Todor Dimkov, specifically: 870,840 denars, 580,560 denars, and 1,180,000 denars. Transfer of funds from a resident to a non-resident on November 23, 2018, to CardFinans in two amounts: 8,390,000 denars and 5,300,000 denars,” the Criminal Report states.

According to the bankruptcy trustee, this concession is illegal, as is the way Bulgarian CardFinans managed to extract 300,000 euros from Expo Media Center.

“CardFinans, by unlawfully exercising its ownership rights, has managed to extract 330,000 euros from an investment of just 300 euros. The company is now pursuing an additional 700,000 euros and will likely continue to seek the remaining 400,000 euros in utilities from Gazi Baba, as well as damages,” the criminal complaint states.

Following the upholding of the verdict against the city of Skopje by the courts, compelling the city to return the money paid for utilities, the City of Skopje has thus far paid 47 million denars or 764,227 euros  each to the bankrupt companies Skopski Saem and Saem Invest.

Land for an Apartment

While the East Gate shopping center is primarily financed by Samir Mane and the Balfin Group, the residential complex involves multiple investors. The land for the buildings, both completed and under construction, is owned by East Gate Living. In exchange for the land, the agreement stipulates that a portion of the apartments will be allocated to East Gate. East Gate SEG paid money to the account of the Municipality of Gazi Baba and the City of Skopje for the arrangement of the plots for the shopping center and the complex of buildings. 

So far, two blocks, consisting of four buildings labeled A1, A2, B1, and B2, have been completed within the East Gate Living housing complex.

Unionnet, which has other holdings such as Western Union Skopje, is the investor and seller of the apartments in the A1 building, which overlooks the East Gate Mall. The building features a prominent ad stating that these apartments are for sale. The market value per square meter ranges from 1,680 to 1,780 euros, depending on the apartment’s orientation—east or west. IRL reporters confirmed these prices through direct communication with the company selling the apartments.The price per square meter was obtained by IRL reporters through a conversation with the company selling the apartments. The official website of this company is www.unionnet.mk, and a contact number for direct inquiries with the sellers is available at their office in the complex.

IRL spoke to one of the sales agents. When we expressed interest in buying an apartment between 30 and 50 square meters, we were informed that only a few of those units remained. We inquired about the investor, and the agent confirmed that Unionnet is behind the construction.

Upon looking up the company, we found that the actual seller of the apartments in East Gate Living is Unija Finansiska Skopje. The company’s ownership includes seven individuals and one legal entity: Financial Union Tirana.

Apartments in building A2 are being sold by East Gate Living.

Building B1 was developed by the Tetovo – based company AK Invest, led by Abzi Ibrahimi. Abzi’s son, Fatim Ibrahimi, and Arianit Xhaferi, the son of Musa Xhaferi (a current DUI parliamentarian), co – founded the electricity trading company U-Power.

AK Invest is selling the apartments in B1, which is part of the East Gate Living complex.

The construction of B2 was financed by SMS Construction. This company is also building C1 and C2, as stated on their official website.

Two of the apartment complexes are still under construction. A sign on the construction site lists SMS Shops from Skopje as the investor. The company was established on October 7, 2002, with a founding capital of 345,700 euros. The owner and manager is Amar Sali.

The contractor for the construction of the last two buildings C1 and C2 is Albekat. There are two companies with this name in Macedonia: Albekat Group DOOEL Skopje and Drushtvo Albekat, Albekat DOOEL Export-Import Skopje, which was liquidated due to debts to the Public Revenue Office (PRO/UJP).

Both companies are owned by members of the Ahmetaj family. Documents from the Central Registry show that the former head of Albekat was Fatmir Ahmetaj, while the current head of Albekat Group DOOEL is Albert Ahmetaj. The company has been profitable since 2022, with a profit of 37 million denars (over 600,000 euros) in 2022, and over 52 million denars (over 800,000 euros) in 2023.

However, upon checking the business portfolio of the Ahmetaj family, IRL found that they face business restrictions due to unpaid taxes in Albania. Official documents indicate these bans stem from tax evasion related to their operations. The documents show that as of 2021 the company is not commercially active in Albania and they are prohibited from selling their property until they settle the tax debt to the state.