Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07SKOPJE27
2007-01-12 16:12:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Skopje
Cable title:  

BUNGLED MACEDONIAN ARMS SHIPMENT TO BULGARIA:

Tags:  PGOV KCOR KOMC MASS PREL MK 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0002
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHSQ #0027/01 0121612
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 121612Z JAN 07
FM AMEMBASSY SKOPJE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5599
INFO RUEHBW/AMEMBASSY BELGRADE 2008
RUEHVJ/AMEMBASSY SARAJEVO 0228
RUEHSF/AMEMBASSY SOFIA 5061
RUEHTI/AMEMBASSY TIRANA 3496
RUEHTH/AMEMBASSY ATHENS 1712
RUEHVB/AMEMBASSY ZAGREB 2308
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 3648
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUESEN/SKOPJE BETA
RUEHSQ/USDAO SKOPJE MK
RUEHPS/USOFFICE PRISTINA 4214
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
C O N F I D E N T I A L SKOPJE 000027 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/SCE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/04/2017
TAGS: PGOV KCOR KOMC MASS PREL MK
SUBJECT: BUNGLED MACEDONIAN ARMS SHIPMENT TO BULGARIA:
CORRUPTION OR INCOMPETENCE?

REF: A. SOFIA-SKOPJE E-MAIL DECEMBER 22 2006

B. DAO IIR 6 949 0010 07

C. DAO IIR 6 949 0009 07

Classified By: P/E OFFICER MLATHAM FOR REASONS 1.4 (B),(C) & (D).

Summary
--------
C O N F I D E N T I A L SKOPJE 000027

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/SCE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/04/2017
TAGS: PGOV KCOR KOMC MASS PREL MK
SUBJECT: BUNGLED MACEDONIAN ARMS SHIPMENT TO BULGARIA:
CORRUPTION OR INCOMPETENCE?

REF: A. SOFIA-SKOPJE E-MAIL DECEMBER 22 2006

B. DAO IIR 6 949 0010 07

C. DAO IIR 6 949 0009 07

Classified By: P/E OFFICER MLATHAM FOR REASONS 1.4 (B),(C) & (D).

Summary
--------------

1. (C) Macedonian police intercepted and halted a shipment
of military weapons bound for Bulgaria on December 14,
claiming that the trucks lacked the proper paperwork and the
required police escort. The shipment of machine guns and
mortars was the last of four shipments of excess weapons the
Macedonian Ministry of Defense had sold to a Bulgarian
company. While the police action generated extensive local
media coverage, characterizing the case as a corruption
scandal, it remains unclear whether the irregularities
actually stemmed from corruption or were due to sloppy
procedures. The fallout from the intercepted shipment has
worsened the already poor relationship between President
Crvenkovski and the government, and has weakened both the
Minister of Defense and the Chief of Defense (CHOD). It also
has stained the MOD's reputation as the ministry furthest
along on the NATO reform path. End summary.

Police Seize Military Weapons Shipment
--------------

2. (U) On December 14, police from the Ministry of Interior
seized three trucks transporting machine guns and mortars
from Skopje to the Bulgarian arms trading firm EMCO in Sofia.
The police claimed the shipment lacked both the proper
documentation and the required police or military escort. The
Bulgarian drivers of the trucks were detained, and then later
released. The shipment was the last of four shipments of
weapons sold by the MOD to EMCO under a contract signed by
the Minister of Defense of the previous government. The MOD
had designated the weapons as excess and requiring disposal.
The Macedonian media immediately labeled the affair a
corruption scandal, focusing on an alleged discrepancy

between the stated and actual value of the weapons on several
documents. Local commentators questioned why the shipment
included unused and donated equipment.


3. (C) The shipment included 300 unused German-manufactured
MG-3 machine guns donated by the USG out of its European
"Cold War" stocks in Germany in 1999. The USG donated a total
of 703 of the MG-3s to Macedonia at the time; emboffs have
verified that the others have not been sold and are still
being stored in Macedonian military warehouses. The MG-3s
are not standard issue for the Macedonian military and can
legitimately be considered excess. The GOM had signed an
arms transfer agreement with the USG that required them to
notify the USG if they intended to sell any donated military
equipment. However, because the guns did not reach the
border, the GOM did not technically violate the agreement.
Emboffs have reminded MOD officials of their obligations
under that agreement. The previous three MOD shipments to
EMCO did not involve US-supplied arms.


4. (C) Chief of Defense Lieutenant General Miroslav
Stojanovski told emboff that the shipment had originally been
scheduled for December 15, and a military police escort had
been requested. For still undetermined reasons, the shipment
occurred a day early, without the escort. Note: Embassy
Sofia reports that, according to their GOB contacts, the
trucks originally had a military police escort (ref e-mail).
According to GOB sources, the escort mysteriously disappeared
minutes before the MOI stopped the trucks. We have no
information to corroborate this claim. Those sources also
claimed that EMCO is storing the previously shipped
Macedonian equipment in a secure warehouse in Bulgaria, and
has not yet filed an export license application for them.
End Note.


5. (C) On December 18, emboff met separately with Minister of
Defense Lazar Elenovski and Stojanovski. In those meetings,
both presented the paperwork for the shipment; the listed
value of at least some of the items, however, differed

substantially on the two documents shown to emboff. Elenovski
noted that the listed values on his documents appeared to be
too low, while the document Stojanovski presented included
higher prices for some of the same items.

Shake-Up At The Ministry Of Defense
--------------

6. (C) The arms seizure led to sharp public criticism of
Elenovski and Stojanovski by the media and opposition
politicians. Both officials said they had no knowledge of
irregularities with the shipment until it was seized. It
appears that MOI officials did not notify either of them
before the enforcement action took place. The current and
former commanders of MOD logistics, along with an advisor,
were charged with abuse of office and are being held in
detention pending the final results of the investigation.
The MOD's Chief of Intelligence and Deputies for Intelligence
and Counter Intelligence were fired. The justification for
their dismissal was that the MOD's Intelligence Sector is
responsible for detecting and preventing incidents of
internal corruption.


7. (C) Some VMRO-DPMNE members of parliament publicly called
on President Crvenkovski, who under the constitution has the
authority to appoint and remove the Chief of Defense, to fire
Stojanovski. (Some members of VMRO, the leading coalition
party, have long been antagonistic to Stojanovski due to his
role in providing military personnel to block a VMRO
demonstration many years ago.) Crvenkovski refused to fire
Stojanovski. Elenovski told emboff that he would have
supported Stojanovski's dismissal, but that there is no
suitably qualified replacement for the CHOD. Elenovski
announced publicly that there likely would be a reshuffle of
some members of the General Staff. Critics of Crvenkovski,
including members of the ruling government coalition, used
the affair to attack Crvenkovski's handling of the incident
in his role as commander in chief.

Comment: Lots Of Smoke, But How Much Fire?
--------------

8. (C) Though the details of the affair are still murky, and
may never be fully known, the short-term damage to the MOD's
image is significant. Elenovski's and Stojanovski's
opponents have used the incident to tarnish their
reputations, while the government has used it as a basis for
attacking President Crvenkovski. Despite the initial public
outcry, it is difficult to determine the extent to which
there is any substance to allegations of intentional
wrongdoing. The equipment can legitimately be considered
excess, and it was sold under a government contract to a
company in a NATO-member country. However, Stojanovski's
claim that proper shipment procedures were not followed due
to incompetence rather than corruption is undercut by the
existence of two sets of documents with substantially
different values for the items in the shipment. The apparent
attempt to sell USG-donated equipment without notifying us in
advance appears to have been due to a lapse in MOD procedures
rather than an intention to violate the arms transfer
agreement.
MILOVANOVIC