ARRESTS FOR CORRUPTION IN NIŠ: Former mayor falls, damaged the budget for more than one million euros!

In the continuation of the anti-corruption campaign, members of the UKP, on the order of the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Niš, began searches and arrests of suspects in several locations early this morning, “Blic” reports.

The target of the investigators, as suspected, is the former mayor of that city, Dragana Sotirovski. She is suspected of allegedly damaging the budget by several million euros through abuses in the waterworks.

According to unofficial information, former mayor Dragana Sotirovski is allegedly suspected of abuses related to public procurement around the waterworks.

Dragana Sotirovski arrived around noon at the Preševo border crossing, from where police officers are transporting her to the PU for the city of Niš, where she will be served with a detention order, “Blic” has been unofficially confirmed.

Dragana Sotirovski has not yet been officially arrested, and more information about the detention and investigation against her will be known after she is taken to the police station in Niš.

According to the collected evidence, she is suspected of having, in order to avoid the implementation of public procurement, classified the works as urgent and thus directly agreed the price with the contractors.

As Blic unofficially learns, in this way, as suspected, she repeatedly increased the price in agreement with the contractors and awarded the job to contractors she chose herself.

According to unofficial information, the former mayor, against whom the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Niš has launched an investigation, is suspected of owning a house in Greece.

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Who is the former mayor of Niš

Dragana Sotirovski served as the mayor of Niš from August 2020 until August of last year. After that, she returned to the editorial position at Radio Television of Serbia, specifically in the Niš correspondent office of the Second Program of Radio Belgrade. As was stated at the time, the reason was “the termination of her public function”.

She was also the head of the Nišava Administrative District with headquarters in Niš from December 2017, when she replaced her 25-year journalistic career with a political one. At that time, she was the head of the RTS television correspondent office in Niš.

She started working as a journalist in 1992 on the Third Channel of the then Television Belgrade. As a journalist reporter, she moved to the editorial office of the Morning Program and the Belgrade Chronicle in 1993. Then, in 1997, she became an RTS correspondent from Niš, and she was the editor of the TV Center in Niš from 2011 to 2017.

From 2015 to 2017, she was a member of the Local Anti-Corruption Forum of Niš (LAF), and until the end of 2018, she was the president of the Information Commission of the Bulgarian National Council in Serbia.

In November 2021, at the SNS Assembly, she was elected a member of the Presidency of the party.

A series of major arrests in previous days

The former secretary of the Secretariat for Legalization Affairs in Belgrade, Nemanja Stajić, was arrested yesterday on the order of the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade on suspicion of having approved the legalization of a series of illegally built buildings.

In the same action, in the continuation of the fight against corruption, “handcuffs” were also placed on Novak Stajić, Nemanja’s own brother.

In an action to suppress illegal construction, six people were arrested yesterday morning for whom there is reasonable suspicion that they committed the criminal acts of construction without a building permit and by such illegal action, as investors, built four residential buildings in Ledine, without a previously issued building permit.

On the order of the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade, the head of the legalization department in the municipality of Vračar, Jovan Kovačević, was arrested yesterday.

Representatives of the Criminal Police Directorate entered the premises of the Football Association of Serbia last night.

Searches in 50 companies

As a reminder, within the framework of a large action in the fight against corruption, the operations of 50 companies were being checked yesterday on the order of the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade. Among the companies that are being “combed” are Savanova plus, Tončev grupa from Niš, Fristajler from Belgrade, the Škrbić winery, Grass garden, the Sava nova Plus restaurant, Putevi Užice, IT Globe, NBI.N.A.T. doo Kragujevac, etc.