Five Companies "for Bulgaria": A Document Check of Nikoloski's Claim
Deputy Prime Minister Nikoloski claims the Zaev–Filipce government negotiated selling five Macedonian companies to Bulgaria, but he names none, presents no document, and SDSM rejects the claim as "five companies without a name."
Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Nikoloski said in an interview with Radio Lider that the SDSM government led by Zoran Zaev and Dimitar Kovacevski accepted everything Bulgaria asked for, including negotiating the sale of five private Macedonian companies. He described them as one national television station, one telecom operator, one bank, one mine and one cable operator. In the statement he also mentioned the role of Venko Filipce, then health minister.
The interview names no companies and presents no contract, minutes or other document supporting the alleged sale. SDSM replied that there is no connection between the then health minister and the sale of private companies and called the claim "five companies without a name." Its statement contains no documents to the contrary, instead steering the conversation toward the Prespa Agreement and other topics.
So at this point the claim is a political statement, not an established fact. If documents exist — minutes of negotiations, written demands or correspondence — they could change that; without them, the public is left with two opposing narratives about the period of the Bulgarian veto.
MKNews Hub · Macedonia · October 8, 2026
