North Macedonia, The Republic of

1970-08-31

Hungary; Skopje, North Macedonia, The Republic of

Nikola Gruevski (Gruevski) has been convicted and remains a suspect in numerous cases of corruption, and has been accused of abuse of office, money laundering, and other offenses related to his time as the prime minister of North Macedonia from 2006 to 2016. He has continuously evaded capture for his 2018 conviction by a court in North Macedonia on corruption related charges, which represents a serious setback for accountability for corruption and corruption-related activities in North Macedonia. Gruevski is the owner and director of Hungarian company I.C.I.C. KFT, which is registered as a limited liability company in Pecel, Hungary. Gruevski was designated pursuant to E.O. 14033 for being responsible for or complicit in, or for having directly or indirectly engaged in, corruption related to the Western Balkans, including corruption by, on behalf of, or otherwise related to a government in the Western Balkans, or a current or former government official at any level of government in the Western Balkans, such as the misappropriation of public assets, expropriation of private assets for personal gain or political purposes, or bribery. I.C.I.C. KFT was designated pursuant to E.O. 14033 for being owned or controlled by Gruevski.

https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0712

2022-04-11

US

Executive Order 14033 Blocking Property and Suspending Entry into the United States of Certain Persons Contributing to the Destabilizing Situation in the Western Balkans

OFAC country specific

Western Balkans

Blocking Property, Suspending Entry

On June 8, 2021, pursuant to, inter alia, IEEPA, the President issued E.O. 14033. In E.O. 14033, the President expanded the scope of the national emergency declared in E.O. 13219, as amended in E.O. 13304, finding that the situation in the territory of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Republic of Albania (the Western Balkans), over the past two decades, including the undermining of post-war agreements and institutions following the breakup of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, as well as widespread corruption within various governments and institutions in the Western Balkans, stymies progress toward effective and democratic governance and full integration into transatlantic institutions, and thereby constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.

SDN