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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

____________________________________ :

U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE :COMMISSION, ::

Plaintiff , :-v- : No. 11 Civ. 9645 (RJS)

:ELEK STRAUB, :ANDRÁS BALOGH, and : FILED UNDER SEALTAMÁS MORVAI, :

: Defendants. :

____________________________________:DECLARATION OF LISA J. FRIED

I, Lisa J. Fried, declare as follows:

1. I am a member of the bar of this Court and a partner of the firm Hogan

Lovells US LLP, counsel for Defendant Elek Straub. I am fully familiar with the facts set forth

herein. I submit this declaration in support of the Motion to Strike the Statements of Slobodan

Bogoeski (the “Witness”), made jointly by Mr. Straub, András Balogh and Tamás Morvai

(together, the “Defendants”).

2. Annexed hereto as Exhibit A is a true and correct copy of the English-

language transcript, provided to the Defendants by Plaintiff the SEC, of a December 28, 2014

interview of the Witness conducted by Robert Dodge, counsel for the SEC.

3. Annexed hereto as Exhibit B is a true and correct copy of the transcript of

the January 15, 2015 deposition of the Witness in this action.

4. Annexed hereto as Exhibit C is a true and correct copy of the transcript of

the January 28, 2015 continued deposition of the Witness in this action.

Case 1:11-cv-09645-RJS Document 206 Filed 08/26/15 Page 1 of 166


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5. Annexed hereto as Exhibit D is a true and correct copy of the transcript of

the February 19, 2015 continued deposition of the Witness in this action.

6. Annexed hereto as Exhibit E is a true and correct copy of the transcript of

the March 20, 2015 pre-motion conference in this action.

Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1746(2), I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the

United States of America and the State of New York that the foregoing is true and correct.

Executed in New York, New York on April 10, 2015.

____ /s/ Lisa J. Fried______Lisa J. Fried



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EXHIBIT A



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Date: 28.12.2014

Transcript of audio recording

Today is December 28, 2014. We are in Skopje, Macedonia, at the Law Office of PANOVA Law Firm, the address is

Vladimir 1a. I am Robert DODGE (RD) Attorney with the US Securities and Exchange Commission; we will be

interviewing today Slobodan Bogoeski (SB). Also in the room will be Aleksandra Vidova, who will serve as interpreter

today, also Biljana Panova will be in the room, Mihail Panev will be operating the video camera and a separate tape-

recording. Before we begin, we have a Notary Public (N); Mr. Slobodan Bogoeski will be placed under oath. I’d like to do

that now please.

N: My name is Notary Public Sasho Klisaroski from Skopje. According to Article 68 of the Law on Notarial Practice, the

Notary Public is in position and obliged to take deposition under oath. I will now read the oath and the witness can repea

after me: “I swear on my honor that I will tell the truth about everything that I will be asked, and I will withhold nothing

know of this matter”.

(The witness repeats after the Notary Public)

Thank you.

RD: Good morning Mr. Bogoeski. We met for the first time this morning, right?

SB: Good morning, yes that’s right.

RD: As we get started I would like for the record to give you full name and spelling of your last name?

RD: My name is Slobodan Bogoeski. I was born in 1951; I am former Deputy Secretary for State Security, and former

advisor of the Prime Minister on such issues, until the year 2000. In short this is my biography.

RD: Ok, I’m going to hand you a document that’s been marked as exhibit 229, it is a one page document with the word

“Biography” at the top, and it is dated December 27, 2014, it has your signature. Is this the document that you prepared?

SB: Yes. This is my document, I prepared it, and it is a very short biography from my very lucrative career.

RD: (To the interpreter) Lucrative, is that the word he used?

Interpreter: Very rich.



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RD: In exhibit 229, it says that from 1975 you were employed in the Ministry of Interior, the State Security Service. Can

you describe in general what your responsibilities were in the MoI?

SB: In short, for the first 8 years I was employed as inspector, I finished as chief inspector, during the events in Kosovo,

afterwards I was appointed as Head of the Department for Analytics, and afterwards I was promoted Head of the entire

department of Analytics in the entire ministry. In 1991, I was appointed as Vice-Secretary in the Service for State

Security. The State Security Service covers intelligence service and counter-intelligence in the Republic of Macedonia. I

held this position until February, 1997, when I submitted my resignation due to health reasons and I started to work as

advisor of the Prime Minister in security issues, in the area of state security, legislation and administration.

RD: Who was the Prime Minister at that time?

SB: At that time the Prime Minister was Branko Crvenkovski, and from the end of 1998 until my leave in 2000 it was

Ljubco Gjeorgjievski. In 2000 I submitted my resignation and left the government.

RD: So, during the time period of 2004, 2005, and 2006, where were you employed?

SB: I was retired in the summer 2000, after submitting my resignation. But I stopped my retirement, I postponed it

because I was relatively of young age and I was employed in the private sector in a company owned by my family.

RD: Are you familiar with the name “Dimitris Kondominas”?

SB: Yes, in Greek it is Dimitris Kontominas, it is spelled with “nt”, but it is pronounced with “nd”. That’s the

pronunciation. I have known Dimitris Kontominas since 1993, because by decision of the Security of Council of the

Republic of Macedonia, held by the President of the Republic of Macedonia, I was commissioned to conduct all secret

negotiations with the Greek party, in an attempt to find a solution with the Greek party regarding the problem with the

blockage of the Republic of Macedonia by the Greeks. I’m guessing you remember that Greece put an economic block on

Macedonia in 1992, and the political problem that arose with the name of the Republic of Macedonia. Considering my

function, I was obliged to work on that issue. In this sense, we prepared two packages for negotiations with the Greek

party, which I proposed to the representatives of the Greek government. One of them was so called “small package”, i

was referring to continuing with economic, cultural and other cooperation between the two nations. And the “big

package” was the political problem, which was to be left for resolution some time later, to give it some time for resolution

of some smaller issues and improve relations. This is when I met Dimitris Kontominas. He was one among the people



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who was in the vicinity of the then Greek Prime Minister Dimitris Mitsotakis, who was a prime minister until December

1993. He was followed by Andreas Papandreou.

RD: Was there a time in 2004 when Mr. Kontominas asked you for help?

SB: We had contacts with him on regular basis even before that, because with the privatisation of Makedonski Telekom

which started in 2000, I organized his contacts with our President and our Prime Minister.

RD: When you say ‘his contacts’, do you mean Mr. Kontominas?

SB: I organized contacts of Mr. Kontominas with our Prime Minister Ljubco Gjeorgjievski, and the then President, the

late Boris Trajkovski. In this manner he participated in the negotiations for purchasing certain percent of the shares, and

he was the main intermediary in the sale of Makedonski Telekom to the company Stonebridge.

RD: Kontominas?

SB: Kontominas. He was the key intermediary. Thanks to this intermediation, the company Stonebridge gave him 5% of

the shares.

RD: And what was your involvement in that transaction?

SB: I was still advisor of the Prime Minister at that time, I organized his meetings with our Prime Minister Ljubco

Gjeorgjievski, and the then President, the late Boris Trajkovski. And after that, since I withdrew from my post, they

continued with their negotiations. It was all finished with success, with the sale of 51% of the shares in Makedonsk

Telekom to Stonebridge. He was very grateful that I made this possible for him.

RD: Are you talking about Kontominas?

SB: Yes.

RD: It is helpful instead of saying ‘he’ or ‘him’ to give proper names for the record to be clear.

SB: It was for these reasons that Kontominas contacted me from time to time, on some issues regarding the negotiations,

and since I am familiar with the law, I am legal connoisseur, I gave my opinion on the questions that Kontominas had.

RD: Are you a licensed lawyer in Macedonia?

SB: I passed the Bar Exam but I never practiced law, since my health condition did not allow me to practice law as an

attorney at that time, it is very demanding profession.

RD: In 2004, late 2004, tell me about your communication with Mr. Kontominas.



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SB: Somewhere in the middle of December 2004, Kontominas called me to ask me to organize a meeting of his team

consisting of Nikos Stavridis, Michalis Kefaloyannis, the two were the first people in Cosmoline, company of Kontominas

in Athens, and at the same time Michalis Kefaloyannis was a member of the Steering Board in Makedonski Telekom

representing the capital of Kontominas in Stonebridge. Over the phone he did not say what was the purpose of the meeting

he requested, he only stressed that it was very important and urgent, …

RD: Is this Kontominas?

SB: Yes, Kontominas said that it was very important and very urgent that I make possible to provide a meeting for this

team with the Prime Minister Buckovski, and if possible, during the same visit to meet the head people of the political

party DUI, the Albanian party in Tetovo. I told Kontominas that I will try and ask and I will confirm the very next day

because it was just before the New Year’s holiday, I was not sure if I would be able to find everyone. Luckily, both the

prime minister and the head people of the political party DUI were all present and available the next day. I remember, this

was immediately before the Catholic Christmas, between the 23 – 25 December, they arrived with the private plane of

Kontominas, the team from Athens that I referred to, and the Prime Minister Buckovski met them the same day, this team

from Athens that I mentioned. Immediately after meeting with the Prime Minister Buckovski, while still in the

Government, they met also the Vice President Musa Xhaferi, who was also Vice President of the political party. After this

meeting, I met them, and immediately they continued and travelled to a meeting in Tetovo. In Tetovo, they met Al

Ahmeti, and with Abdilhalim Kasami, Secretary General or Director of the political party. It was after they came back

from the meeting in Tetovo that we met in the restaurant ‘Nostalgija’, located in the street Rade Koncar, in the center of

Skopje, and they informed me in details of everything they discussed in the meetings during the day.

RD: When you say ‘they informed’ you, who was ‘they’?

SB: It refers to the team led by Michalis Kefaloyannis and Nikos Stavridis; these are the first people in Cosmoline.

RD: And what did they tell you about the meetings?

SB: From the first meeting there was nothing that indicated the later development of events. I was told during out talks

during dinner, that with Buckovski, Musa Xhaferi, Ahmeti and Kasami, they discussed about their plan how to overcome

all problems in regards with compensation of frequency fees, for which there was dispute during 2003, and 2004, for the

problem of possible redundancy and laying off of three hundred employees from Makedonski Telekom, which was a



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problem that the Government was very concerned with; and third question was the delay of payment of the dividend from

operating of the Makedonski Telekom for the Government, and that, in order to find a solution, they offered the Prime

Minister Buckovski, that immediately after the New Year’s holidays they would come with written proposal, on their

points of view of overcoming these problems, and at the same time they would offer business plan of how to broaden

activities of Makedonski Telekom in the market in Kosovo. At the beginning it all seemed normal and legal until the

second meeting.

RD: Tell me about the second meeting.

SB: It was held in the middle of January, after our orthodox Christmas holidays, I cannot remember exactly when,

somewhere around January 15. With the private plane of Kontominas, this same team arrived in Skopje again. But this

time with them they carried Memorandum of Understanding which in essence, as a working body of text, as draft text, i

is almost identical to the Protocol they signed later. And it was them for the first time, after the same round of

negotiations, with the Prime Minister Buckovski, Musa Xhaferi, Ahmeti and Kasami, again in Tetovo, and again they

stayed for the night in Skopje. It is then that I saw the working text of the Memorandum for the first time.

RD: Who showed you the text of the document?

SB: Michalis Kefaloyannis had the text with him; he was in essence the main negotiator in the talks with Buckovski,

Xhaferi, Ahmeti and Kasami.

RD: Do you have any understanding why Mr. Kefaloyannis showed you the document?

SB: It was upon order of Kontominas; Kontominas asked him to show me the document so that I review it and see if I

have any comments on this platform of negotiations.

RD: And did you have any comments?

RD: There was nothing serious that I remarked since if you have a look at the Protocol you cannot have any serious

comments. However, in the oral negotiations, which they had with Buckovski, conducted by Stavridis and Kefaloyannis

orally they proposed that this Memorandum of Understanding will bring a lot of profit for all of them if the Macedonian

Government agrees to postpone the adoption of the new Law on Telecommunications, or otherwise, the Go to postpone

the adoption of the bylaws, this in order for the Makedonski Telekom to keep the monopoly position on the Macedonian

market. And second, in return, that they are prepared and willing to make payment of the dividend, which was to be paid



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any way in accordance with the law, and the compensation for frequency fee, which is legal obligation and obligation

from the agreement. And third and most important issue stressed by Kefaloyannis, that fro Deutsche Telekom, the most

important issue of all these is to change the decision of the government, not to sell the entire package of shares owned by

the Republic of Macedonia in Makedonski Telekom, and to adopt the decision for sale of 9.9% of the shares, because

they were supposed to pay approximately 200 million Euros for the entire package of shares. And this way, with the

purchase of 9.9 % of share they would acquire more than 2/3 (two thirds) of ownership in the company, and this in

accordance with our legislation will provide them with uninterrupted management of the company, including sale of

assets of the company. In this way, they would minimize the interference of the GoM in the management of the

Makedonski Telekom. On several occasions Stavridis and Kefaloyannis would stress that the rest of the issues were not

that important, as much as it was important to them for the Government to agree to the sale of 9.9% of the shares and

rebranding of the Company.

RD: You are describing meetings that took place in January 2005, is that right?

SB: Yes. In the middle of January, 2005.

RD: Do you know whether any executives from MakTel or Magyar Telekom participated in these meetings?

SB: ON these meetings in Skopje, there were no representatives of Magyar Telekom, from security reasons, because,

previously, it had already been agreed by Kontominas and Elek Straub, and that he authorized Balogh to talk to Michalis

Kefaloyannis and Nikos Stavridis regarding the resolution of these issues, and they informed me that they were authorized

by Deutsche Telekom to proceed with it.

RD: Who informed you?

SB: Both Michalis Kefaloyannis and Nikos Stavridis, that it had already been resolved with the Magyar Telekom before

they came for meeting in Skopje. I said ‘It is all ok, but please be careful’, because Kontominas told me all acts, that were

to be signed to be previously provided to me, in order for me to be able to give my opinion on these acts. This was

particular referring to the Protocol of Cooperation. When they left, the next day, shortly after, I cannot remember wha

day, the same team, Nikos Stavridis, Michalis Kefaloyannis, Israclis Sifakakis, now joined by the financial advisor of

Kontominas, Iraklis Fidetzis, financial advisor, they came again to visit the same people in Skopje, in the government of

the Republic of Macedonia and in Tetovo.



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RD: When was this?

SB: I cannot remember exactly, but I know that a couple of weeks went by between the two meetings. Then they

presented the second version, which version was closer to the current version of the Protocol. At that point nobody signed

the Memorandum, but it was subject of negotiations, platform of negotiations between the two parties.

RD: Who was there for the government?

SB: On all of the meetings representative of the Government were the Prime Minister Buckovski, his advisor Bekim

Zemoski, and of course Musa Xhaferi the Vice President of the Government. They represented the Government of the

Republic of Macedonia. On this meeting I was told for the first time, that it was necessary for meeting to be organized for

them, Nikos Stavridis and Michalis Kefaloyannis, with Ekrem Lluka from Kosovo, owner of Mobikos, who had already

acquired the license for mobile operator in Kosovo, and who also had an agreement for mutual investing with Slovenian

Telekom. Considering the fact that they did not have a lot of time that day, because, they told me they had to go back to

Athens immediately, because the next day they were to travel to Budapest, to meet the management of Magyar Telekom. I

am talking about Nikos Stavridis and Mihail Kefaloyannis. They invited the advisor of Buckovski to be present as well.

RD: Was that Bekim Zemoski?

SB: Yes, who travelled from Skopje to Vienna and from Vienna to Budapest by a commercial flight. I called Ekrem Lluka

the next day, and I asked him for a meeting. Over the telephone, in short, I explained who the people were, who wanted to

meet him and who were interested in business cooperation with them. Ekrem Lluka immediately accepted to meet them,

because, at that time, there was chaos in Kosovo. They were still not constituted as a state, it was very difficult for the

Slovenian Telekom to establish themselves on the Kosovo market with Ekrem Lluka, and for these reasons, the accepted

to meet them immediately. I informed Michalis Kefaloyannis and Nikos Stavridis that Ekrem Lluka was prepared at any

time to meet them whenever they wanted in Kosovo or in Skopje, but that he preferred that we went to Kosovo, in order to

present everything that Mobikos Kosovo had worked on. Approximately two weeks after this conversation, the team

composed of these same persons, Nikos Stavridis, Michalis Kefaloyannis, and Iraklis Sifakakis, they arrived in Skopje,

and from here we went to Pec in Kosovo, where Ekrem Lluka lived and was located.

RD: So, what period are we talking about, would this be February or March?



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SB: At the beginning of March, I cannot remember the date exactly; it was approximately two weeks after the meeting in

Skopje was held.

RD: So, approximately March, 2005?

SB: It was at the beginning of March 2005, as far as I remember it was still very cold at that time and there was still snow

on the mountain near Pec in Kosovo. During the general conversation that we had which lasted for over four hours, at

which took part Ekrem Lluka, in his home, and his general manager whose name I cannot remember, he was the genera

manager of Mobikos Kosovo, who also served as interpreter of Ekrem Lluka. On the other part, I was present, Nikos

Stavridis, Michalis Kefaloyannis, and Iraklis Sifakakis. There it was proposed for him the financial and technical and

technological support in order for him to be able to put into operation Mobikos Kosovo, using the logistics of the

Macedonian Mobimak, to develop something they called Mobile Virtual Operator (MVO). I did not understand how this

formula functions, but it seemed normal as Kosovo at that time was not established as a state, it was still a part of the

Former Social Republic of Yugoslavia, or Serbia. There was no independence in communication as well, and it was no

unusual to propose such option as this. He was happy to accept the proposal..

RD: Was this Mr. Ekrem Lluka?

SB: Yes, Ekrem Lluka was happy, they presented themselves as the representatives of Deutsche Telekom, not just

Makedonski Telekom, and that they were mandated by Elek Straub to discuss on this meeting..

RD: Are you talking about Kefaloyannis now?

SB: Yes, Kefaloyannis, it was Kefaloyannis who held the meetings with Elek Straub. Ekrem Lluka was so happy, that he

took out the original license, which has a unique happy, and without signing anything, he handed it over to Kefaloyannis

to serve them on forming the new joint company. It never happened eventually, it was more than a year later that I

realized that it was just a simple fraud because, as it is evident from the Letter of Intention from August, there was

chronology and dynamics of activities, which was not held to by the Greek representatives Michalis Kefaloyannis and

Nikos Stavridis, and Ekrem Lluka, because I was the one who took them there to him, he started calling me every day

asking why there was no proposal. It was for these reasons that I told them that, when Kontominas comes to Skopje to

sign the Protocol in May 2005, for them to plan time to meet Ekrem Lluka, to explain to him what was going on. It

happened on 27th May, 2005, when the Protocol was signed, immediately after the meeting in the Government of



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Macedonia, where there were present Dimitris Kontominas, Michalis Kefaloyannis, and Iraklis Fidetzis. After signing the

Protocol and the small celebration in the premises of the Government, the entire team came to the Hotel Holiday Inn, in

the meeting room, where I and Ekrem Lluka were waiting for them to start with the negotiations with Ekrem Lluka. Then

Kontominas started explaining to Ekrem Lluka why there was postponing in the development of the events regarding

Mobikos, they were trying to explain to Ekrem Lluka that it was a very big deal, bargain, that it required his patience, tha

they would sing the Letter of Intention with him, and he literally drew on a piece of paper that a piece of that pie would

belong to Ekrem Lluka.

RD: Who did this?

SB: Dimitris Kontominas, he was present and he was leading the conversation. Ekrem Lluka left the meeting happy,

however, later it turned out that nothing of what was said happened. In order not to pressure them, they scheduled a

meeting with him in New York.

RD: Who scheduled the meeting?

SB: Nikos Stavridis and Mihail Kefaloyannis. That allegedly, the headquarters, the main location of this business activity

was in New York, and that allegedly the final decision was to be reached in NY.

However, Ekrem Lluka’s 1—year visa had already expired, which he had previously acquired through a normal

procedure, Nikos Stavridis made interventions in the American Embassy in Skopje, through the Head of Consular Issues

he was some Albanian whose name I do not remember, to refuse the visa application, in order for Michalis Kefaloyannis

and Nikos Stavridis to have an excuse towards Ekrem Lluka why the meeting was postponed, because Ekrem Lluka had

visa issues. In essence they never had the intention to meet him. When later I asked Stavridis Why they acted in such

unfair manner towards Ekrem Lluka, and why you put me in such uncomfortable position, when I cannot explain the

situation to Ekrem Lluka, both Nikos Stavridis and Michalis Kefaloyannis, said ‘Slobodan, please do not be upset, such

activities are normal in the business. All we required was his license, fictively for Elek Straub to be able to show big

business plan, and to acquire the decisions for realization of all other topics, and they had no intention of spreading

activities in Kosovo, and that it was all part of a game. I called Ekrem Lluka and told him not to hope for anything that

there had been certain problems with Stavridis and Kefaloyannis, and that they were not in position to accomplish what

they had promised him. This is how the whole fraud with the Protocol of Cooperation, the first item of which is the



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spreading of business in Kosovo, started to come to light. There were no real obstacles for spreading the business in

Kosovo, if they really had any intention. With the Memorandum, when I say ‘Memorandum’ I refer to the working

version of the protocol of cooperation, in March, it was decided regarding the money, by the end of March it had been

decided who was to get and what amount by performing the activities, from realization of activities conditionally listed in

the Protocol of Cooperation.

RD: I’m going to hand you a document that has been marked as exhibit 230, this is a two page document, it says on the

first page ‘Protocol of Cooperation’ and the second page has signature line for Vlado Buckovski and somebody else, the

name is not readable, it is unsigned, and it has a date ‘May 2005’, can you look at it and tell me if you’ve seen it before?

SB: This Protocol previously was called Memorandum, this is the first version because the counselors of Buckovski

commissioned for this area of cooperation in the Government, Jovan Pejkovski, Ljupco Farmakovski, and there was one

more whose name I cannot remember, he was a professor, they advised him that the Memorandum would not incur legal

validity, and that the body of text in the Memorandum should be in the form of Protocol of Cooperation. Everyone

accepted it, and it made no difference for them whether the document was called memorandum or Protocol of Cooperation

as long as it was signed by all authorities.

RD: Exhibit 230, have you seen it before?

SB: Yes, I have seen it, just like I have seen the working text of the Non-paper, the Memorandum, the Letter of Intention

and the Letter of Buckovski addressed to Elek Straub regarding the sale of the shares and the rebranding.

RD: Did you give that document to Biljana Panova?

SB: Yes, this is a copy, I gave this to Biljana Panova.

RD: And where did you get that document?

SB: For the Memorandum and the Protocol, by order of Kontominas, I was given these documents for revision in al

phases, including this version signed officially on the 27th may. As the negotiations went on, the body of text was

adjusted.

RD: Exhibit 230, is that a draft version of the Protocol of Cooperation?

SB: That’s right, the working version later officialized on 27th May, with notice that previously the Protocol was called

memorandum. It was proposed by the Greeks, they brought the documents, and they prepared and brought them as final.



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RD: Did you receive exhibit 230 from Kefaloyannis or any of the Greeks.

SB: Yes, from Kefaloyannis.

RD: And did you keep it in your files?

SB: I kept various versions, copies, originals of these documents for a very long time.

RD: Since 2005?

SB: I kept them until 2008 when I handed over the documents to the Prime Minister Gruevski. There were a lot of copies

of these documents, in various phases of the negotiations.

RD: But this document, exhibit 230, which you gave to Ms. Panova this week, have you had it in your files since 2005?

SB: Yes, that is correct.

RD: OK, I am going to hand you a document that has been marked ad exhibit 231, one page document that says Non-

Paper at the top, at the bottom are signature lines for Vlado Buckovski and Elek Straub, it is unsigned, with date of May

2005. Have you seen this document before?

SB: The Non-Paper, was the hidden picture of the Protocol. It regulated the distribution of money to all the shareholders

in this transaction. Otherwise, it contained the obligations of Kontominas and Deutsche Telekom towards the Prime

Minister Vlado Buckovski, and the Albanians, or the representatives in the Government Musa Xhaferi, Ali Ahmeti, and

Abdilhalim Kasami.

RD: Everything that was orally discussed in the meetings between them, before signing the Protocol in May, it was

decided in this manner. Since there was bargaining between us and the Albanians. Who was to give how much money,

who was to get how much money, and Kontominas had the obligation to provide all these money in cash, since all actors

asked to be paid for their activities in cash. It was the practice of Kontominas, he has signed a lot of Non-papers like this

and it is for unofficial personal use, between the subjects he made agreement with. For example, even though this

document lists the name of Elek Straub, this document was signed in two copies by Dimitris Kontominas and Vlado

Buckovski, and everyone gets to keep one copy of the document for themselves. This same non-paper was signed by

Dimitris Kontominas and Elek Straub, in order to serve them as proof of what they had agreed between themselves.

RD: you said the Non-paper was signed by Kontominas and Straub, did you mean Kontominas and Buckovski?



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SB: There are two copies of this document with the same text, the same is also signed by Kontominas and Elek Straub.

Since the whole thing has three parties, the key players were Elek Straub, Kontominas and Vlad Buckovski. The

Albanians simply sought money and they had no real authority in these issues, because the Minister of Transport and

Communications Xhemail Mehazi, who I think was also present at the meetings in Vienna and Budapest, in 2005 he lost

the authority in this area of operating, because at that time the Agency for Telecommunications was established as an

independent regulatory body, which previously was only a division in the Ministry of Transport and Communications. In

that way the representatives of the Albanian party had no practical assignment to do any activity apart from not to prevent

this agreement, and in the end to take the money as reward.

RD: Let me ask you about this document, exhibit 231, where you got it.

SB: This document, even though I’ve seen it in working version, one original version was given to me by Bekim Zemoski

RD: Was that a signed version?

SB: Signed version between Buckovski and Kontominas. Why? Because Buckovski was scared to keep all these things in

his safe, and he asked him to dislocate these documents in Germany…

RD: Who asked whom?

SB: Buckovski asked Bekim Zemoski, the man who took the money for Buckovski, to dislocate the original counter

copies in Germany, and to keep all these documents in a safe, because Buckovski was not sure and he was scared to keep

these documents in his treasury because he was scared that they might be lost, or someone may take them. Because Bekim

was scared to travel with such documents, he presented me with this Non-Paper and the Protocol, and later with the Letter

that Buckovski addressed to Elek Straub regarding the sale of the shares on the stock exchange market and the rebranding

of Mobimak.

RD: So, the signed version of the Non-Paper, exhibit 231, did Bekim give you a signed version of that document?

SB: He gave me original version of it,

RD: Was it signed?

SB: Signed by Buckovski and Kontominas, and the other version between Kontominas and Elek Straub, I haven’t seen it

personally, but I know that it was signed with the same text. Through the three representatives who we contacted with a

that time, Stavridis, Kefaloyannis and Sifakakis, that it was a usual practice of Kontominas, in order to keep the Prime



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Minister under Control, in case the Prime Minister would breach the agreement, it was meant for blackmail. In case he

started to breach what they had agreed, he would have something to blackmail the Prime Minister with.

RD: So, in case Buckovski breached the agreement, Kontominas would have something to blackmail him with?

SB: Yes, absolutely, that was a regular practice of Kontominas, also in Romania, Bulgaria and Montenegro, however his

practice was to keep only one copy of it, because it has only personal function, for blackmailing prime ministers.

RD: When you got the signed version from Bekim Zemoski, what did you do with it?

SB: Bekim was scared to travel with such documents, and he left this copy with me to keep it, he asked me what to do

with it, I advised him not to travel with such documents, because in the event such document was found with him it would

be very dangerous. I advised him to make a copy of it and leave the original here. He had a lot of offices in Skopje which

he used where he may have made any copies of it, or scanned it, …

RD: Bekim you mean?

SB: Bekim Zemoski often went to the representative office of KfV German bank, which is in the vicinity where I live, and

here is also the representative office of Konrad Adenauer located, and a lot of services were performed through those

offices.

RD: What did you do with the signed document?

SB: I put it in a folder with the remaining document, and I put it in a safe in my house.

RD: Did you also have this unsigned version of the Non-Paper, exhibit 231?

SB: This is the last non signed version.

RD: Where did you get it?

SB: From the Greeks, from Kefaloyannis, that this is what they had agreed, and that they were starting with the

realization. Later, this was the condition, prerequisite for signing of the Protocol.

RD: First, I would like to talk about the actual documents for a moment. So, this on, without signatures, did you get it in

2005?

SB: In 2005, I had the previous version as well, which was adjusted into final version, and this is the final version of the

Non-Paper, when everything was agreed between the shareholders in the transaction.

RD: Ok, and you got it in 2005?



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SB: Yes, in 2005, before signing of the Protocol.

RD: And did you get it from Kefaloyannis?

SB: From Michalis Kefaloyannis, because, even though Nikos Stavridis was the first director, evidently he was more

experienced in such matters, he only made oral contacts, and the entire documentation communication with the

Hungarians and the Germans was performed by Michalis Kefaloyannis.

RD: Ok, so when you received the unsigned Non-Paper in 2005, did you keep it up until the present?

SB: I kept both the previous and the final version, and the signed version, and the remaining supporting documents, the

Memorandum, the Protocol, in a folder in my safe in my house. No one had access to it apart from me, not even someone

from my immediate family, because my apartment is secured strong safety precauson measures. I kept these documents

until the autumn in 2008.

RD: And what happened in 2008?

SB: In 2008, the media in Macedonia was already publishing about the ongoing investigation. The representatives of

White Case along with our authorities,

RD: White and Case do you mean?

SB: The American company. The media was publishing about this great crime in Makedonski Telekom, certain

representatives from the Ministry of Interior, who were included in the verification, in the investigation, they contacted

me as their former boss. They told me that there were certain telephone calls where they recognized my voice. I told them

that it was correct, and when they would finish with the entire proceeding, they can call me any time, and that I would

assist in any way I can. Nobody pressured me in the sense that I had to do it, but I was asked if I could, to assist. Knowing

the extent to which the MoI is criminalized, because the cousin of the Prime Minister Gruevski was the Head of the

Security Administration, I did not trust him at all, knowing that he was drug trafficking basically his entire life. Because at

the time when I was in charge, he had been taken in for detention on several occasions. For these reasons, when such

requests for assistance were becoming more frequent, in a conversation with the former Minister of Interior Pavle

Trajanov, now a Member of Parliament, and coalition partner of Gruevski, I asked him to hand over to Gruevski the entire

folder that I had, and that it would help them in conducting the investigation.



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RD: So, let me pause there, did you offer to turn over the documents to Gruevski or did somebody ask you to give the

documents?

SB: I volunteered to give the documents, I was not pressured into it, even though there were previous contacts in which I

was told that it would be a good thing for me to assist them. Being scared for any consequences for me personally, I

figured that it would be best for me to hand over these documents personally to the Prime Minister..

RD: What consequences were you scared of?

SB: Because the MoI was already professionalized, and I believed that none of them would keep the secret, and that there

may be any possible consequences to my life, especially in regards with the Albanians. When Pavle and I discussed it,

told him that precautionary measures should be taken, in regards with who would have contact with these documents, and

I proposed that it would be best when he would hand over these documents to the Prime Minister Gruevski, these

documents to be presented to the Public Prosecutor as well, the Investigative judge who conducted the investigation, to

compose minutes that such documents were presented to them, to make copies as separate writs in the proceeding, and to

have the original given back to me. And that in future, should there be any need, I am prepared to discuss only with the

Prime Minister only if he needs additional clarification regarding these documents. When Pavle Trajanov gave the

documents to the Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, the Prime Minister promised that the entire proceeding would see the

end, that it would be finished, but it never happened. On the contrary, shortly after, through an intermediary employee o

Kontominas, Emanuel Malelis a.k.a. Manoli, I am not sure I am guessing he had been previously informed that they had

the original copy, a meeting was organized between the meeting between the cousin of the Prime Minister, Sasho

Mijalkov, Head of the Administration for Security and Counter-intelligence, Emanuel Malelis and Dimitris Kontominas,

in the hotel Kempinski in Thessaloniki. It was the first meeting of Kontominas with Sasho Mijalkov. From this meeting

the following was established. That our government representatives would stop the criminal investigation against the

directors of the Makedonski Telekom, especially against Dimitris Sigalos and Atila Szendrei, Dimitris Sigalos was the

Director of Netphone,…

RD: I think you said the executives of MakTel, did you mean to stop the investigation against the executives of

Cosmoline, or MakTel?



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SB: When Kontominas discussed with Sasho Mijalkov to stop the investigation procedure and withdrawal of the

international warrants established through the Interpol, he discussed about everybody, not just his representatives because

he was concerned with everybody. But especially he requested, the withdrawal of the international warrant against

Michalis Kefaloyannis, because, he was psychologically very weak, he cried all the time, he was scared, and threatened

Kontominas, that if he didn’t help him immediately, that he would volunteer to witness.

RD: Who told you all these things? How did you know all these things?

SB: Both Kontominas and Kefaloyannis, because, later on several occasions I met both Kontominas and Kefaloyannis

both in Athens and in Thessaloniki.

RD: And this is in 2008, right?

SB: In 2008. Immediately after this meeting in Kempinski, because Mijalkov requested to be given 2 million Euros fir

withdrawing the warrants, and 500 000 Euros for the law office Cukic and Markov, for legal services, Kontominas at first

did not believe that he had such powers. He presented himself, ‘I am even greater than the Prime Minister, I made him

Prime Minister, there’s no need for you to discuss with them, everything you know you can discuss with me’. Because

Kontominas noticed that he was a drug addict, he is addicted to cocaine, he was scared and he called me to tell me of the

proposal of Mijalkov, in that sense that whether he could really trust this young man. I told him it was true, that the Prime

Minister can do nothing without him, and that if he had any intention to discuss with them, that he was at the right

address. Then he told me that the money he requested was not a problem, as much as it was a problem whether they would

really withdraw the international warrants, and stop the investigation. For this purpose, they proposed to him additiona

business plans in Macedonia, I am guessing you remember the sale and purchase of the buildings of the Makedonsk

Telekom, where three buildings were given for one building still in construction at the square of the city, and plus

Makedonski Telekom to pay additional 16.5 million Euros, which is non sense. But it was done any way. They made a lot

of common companies with Kontominas, in the area of real estate, in the heating system, in the business with

telecommunications, and the cooperation that Kontominas had with Buckovski was now continued with the current Prime

Minister Gruevski and his cousin..

RD: Can I bring you back in time a little bit? So, you said in 2008, you gave the signed version of the Non-Paper to the

Prime Minister of Macedonia, is that right?



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SB: I gave it to Pavle Trajanov, for him to hand it over to the Prime Minister.

RD: Are you aware of any connection between giving the signed Non-Paper to Mr. Trajanov and the charges against Mr

Kefaloyannis, are those two things related?

SB: Absolutely, all charges came from these activities. I trusted these documents to Pavle Trajanov because I trust him

because he spent his entire life in the Ministry of Interior, he is a legal expert by profession he was Vice Secretary for

State Security, and Minister of Interior as well, and he is very credible person professionally, and knows how to handle

confidential documents. He also pointed out to Gruevski how to keep these documents. This was the reason why these

documents were given through Pavle Trajanov.

RD: Now in 2008, there was an article in the newspaper "Vecer", that reproduced a copy of the Non-Paper, I am handing

you a copy of the document that has been marked exhibit 91, which is a three-page document, it is a copy of an article in

Vecer, with a date June 20, 2008. Have you seen that before?

SB: Not immediately, when it was published, but later one journalist told me that it was published in the Vecer, and I read

the text of the article. It is a matter of the same documents we are now discussing…

RD: Is the copy of the Non-Paper of Exhibit 91, is that the same Non-Paper as in Exhibit 231?

SB: It is identical with this one.

RD: Did you provide the Non-Paper to Vecer?

SB: No, I have never had any contacts with journalists.

RD: Did the article in Vecer come out before or after you gave the signed Non-Paper to Trajanov?

SB: I cannot remember the dates exactly, but I think that it was published before I gave the documents to Pavle Trajanov

because, Vecer was a medium of the Government, and literally all info coming from the Government the Vecer found ou

first. Probably it had been provided by the team working on these documents, because, as I said several unsigned copies of

this were circulating. This is a third final version that was signed. My guess is in the case they has, they had a lot of

documents, and I think that the only possibility for Vecer to get such document was for it to be provided by somebody

from the team that was working on these documents.

RD: In the Government?



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SB: From the team in the Government that was working on this case. Even today the Editor of this newspaper is the first

to publish all confidential information from the Government, even information that is not supposed to be published. He is

a man of trust.

RD: It is now 12:20 and we’ve been going for almost two hours, I wonder if we might take a short break, if you could use

a break? So, we’ll take a break now, we go off the record at 12:20.

Part Two

Off the Record

….

(Colloquial conversation)

Off the Record

RD: also I wanted to ask you about some more of these documents. So where it says “Party A”, so that A correspond to

this ‘A”?

SB: Yes, to the Prime Minister.

RD: Ok, and “Party B”, is that also referring to that B?

SB: Yes.

RD: And were these written together to refer in that way?

SB: There was parallel work on both of these documents. They were conditioned one with the other.



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RD: So then, all the payments were done by June 2006. And, this one also on 30 th June, 2006. There was an election on

July 5th, 2006.

SB: Yes, the election was in July.

RD: Was that the reason why they picked June 30th

as the last date?

SB: To avoid any matching and connection with the elections. Even though there was no real obstacle for it at that time, if

we are talking about the black money. If we are talking of the sale of the shares, they were literally sold at the last minute

before starting the elections, because at that time there was a valid Law on anticorruption, according to which at a time o

election it was forbidden to make sale of assets, shares, of right to property during election period. That is why these dates

were in such manner coordinated. Notice was taken care of the Law on anticorruption.

RD: Ok, so what about the black money payments, why would they pick June 30th, was that related to the election?

SB: The last payment was connected to the election; the previous payments were not connected to the election. The first

two installments were carried out without any obstacles.

RD: I just want to know what the connection is between the last payment, why did it have to happen before the elections.

SB: Because Buckovski in a way was convinced that he would lose the election, which is what he told me as well because

there was a conflict in the governing party, and at that time, the President of the State was the former president of the

party Branko Crvenkovski, who apparently had info of these business and he pressured Buckovski to give part of the

money to the party. Buckovski did not want to do so, and there was a conflict in the governing party.

RD: Who told you this?

SB: From several sources, and from Buckovski himself. The conflict was going on publicly as well, in sense of statements

of the President whereby he attacked the policies of the Government, which was very unusual because they originated

from the same political party. And there were a lot of indications that pointed to the fact that Buckovski might lose. And



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that is why he was in a hurry to finish everything until June 30th, because it was not certain what would happen after the

elections, or otherwise he was more certain that he would lose the post.

RD: Was it Buckovski who wanted to make sure that the black money is paid before the election?

SB: Yes. He was the most aggressive of them all, even more than the Albanians.

RD: Before we get on, these payments are for 7.5 million Euros?

SB: Yes.

RD: I have seen other documents at MakTel or at Magyar Telekom, where Magyar Telekom had to pay Kontominas or

Kefaloyannis 10 million Euros on these same dates. Do you know whether Kontominas was taking a cut of that?

SB: I do not know, I haven’t seen these documents but from Kontominas I know that the request for payment of 12

million Euros for this matter was not in the make that payment, that he could only pay 10 million Euros. And that is why

he sought understanding from Buckovski and the Albanians, that he could not pay 12 million that he could only pay 10

million, and not be pressured to make that payment, that was the amount he could withdraw in cash.

RD: I was thinking about just this first paragraph, and I have seen an email from Balogh to Straub, and Balogh says ‘we

have to pay 10 million Euros, on these same dates, when the Protocol is signed, in December 2005, and June 2006. What I

am wondering is why one document says 10 million, and this one here says 7.5 million. And I am wondering maybe

Kontominas took 2.5 million?

SB: I think so too.

RD: Do you have any knowledge of that?

SB: Not directly, apart from what he said ‘I cannot provide more than 10 million Euros’ and later he complained about

Stavridis and Fidetzis, that allegedly both stole some money from Kontominas in these operations. Later they parted ways

Stavridis and …. It was money issue as well.



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RD: Let me make sure I understand that. Did Kontominas say that he was concerned that Kefaloyannis and Stavridis took

money from him?

SB: Stavridis and Fidetzis, because Fidetzis was his financial advisor, and Stavridis was the main player in all these

communications, in spite the fact that it was Kefaloyannis who prepared all documents. And when I asked him why they

were no longer present in the company, he said that they stole a lot of money from him.

RD: Did he say whether or not he thought it was MakTel money?

SB: The conversation was referring only to this. But he did not specify whether it was this issue or whether there was any

other money involved, apart from the fact that they stole a lot of money from him, which is why he was forced to remove

them from the company. And allegedly they fled. And ever since, they are not in good relations. (Colloquial conversation)

Back on record

RD: We are back on the record now at 12:58. First, I would like to ask you some more questions about exhibit 230 and

231, this is the Non-Paper and the Protocol of Cooperation. If you look at the Non-Paper, exhibit 231, on the signature

line it refers to ‘Party A’ and “Party B’, and then if you look at the Protocol of cooperation, exhibit 230, the first two

paragraphs are labeled ‘A’ and ‘B’. Do you see that? And does the ‘Party A’ in the Non-Paper refer to paragraph A in the

Protocol of Cooperation?

SB: Yes, it refers to the Prime Minister of the Government.

RD: And does the ‘Party B’ in the Non-Paper refer to paragraph B in the Protocol of Cooperation, exhibit 230?

SB: Yes, it refers to Matav Magyar Telekom, but it covers also the people of Kontominas.

RD: So, looking at the Non-Paper, exhibit 231, in the first paragraph, in the first sentence, it talks about the obligations

from the numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4 from the Protocol, does that sentence refer to the paragraphs labeled 1, 2, 3, and 4 in

exhibit 230?



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SB: Yes. As it is written down, the obligations they need to fulfill.

RD: Ok, in the first paragraph of exhibit 231, the Non-Paper, it says that ‘the Party B will pay 7.5 million Euros, of which

2.5 million to the representative of the Party A, and 5 million Euros to the ‘friends from Tetovo (A.A. and M.G.)’, do you

see that?

SB: Yes.

RD: Do you know who A.A. refers to?

SB: Ali Ahmeti.

RD: Do you know who M.G. refers to?

SB: Musa Xhaferi.

RD: and the payment of 7.5. million Euros, do you understand that to be bribe payment?

SB: Absolutely.

RD: And then, that paragraph continues ‘the dynamics of the payment will be as previously agreed, 2.5 million Euros on

the day of signing of the Protocol’, do you see that?

SB: Yes, I do.

RD: And does the Protocol refer to the Protocol of Cooperation, exhibit 230?

SB: Yes, it does.

RD: And then it says ‘2.5 million Euros until 30th December, 2005 and 2.5 million Euros in June 2006’.

SB: That is correct. Let me just clarify why these dates were set as such. These documents are conditioned one with the

other. In order for the signing of the Protocol of Cooperation to happen, the first installment had to be paid, that was

agreed. The second installment, it is again connected with the obligations from the Protocol of cooperation, and they refer



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to payment of dividend for 2004, in the amount of 95 million Euros as far as I remember; the Government to withdraw

lawsuit against Telekom for failing to pay compensation for frequency fees, and that is why this date was chosen, in order

to have everything finished by the end of the year, and for the second installment to be paid in the amount of 2.5 million

Euros. The last installment, dated in the first paragraph in June 2006, but it is actually June 30th 2006, because shortly

after that the parliamentary elections were coming up, and Buckovski and the rest could only give warranty for the period

during which they held position. And they were insisting to finish everything until they held office, to get the money. That

is why the following obligations are connected with the last date, 30 th June, 2006, and they arise from the estimate tha

everything that could be done until before the elections is certain to happen, and after the elections, no one could give the

warranty what will happen. That is why the last date is set as June 30th.

RD: Do you know the date of the elections in 2006?

SB: It was in July, the end, but I cannot remember, the second week of July, we can check. I’m talking about the first

round of voting.

RD: If I suggest to you that the election was on July 5 th, 2006, would that sound about right?

SB: Maybe, I cannot remember exactly.

RD: Ok. The payments in the first paragraph of the Non-Paper, do you know whether these payments were made?

SB: For the first two installments, I can confirm it with certainty, from May and December 2005, as I already described, it

was carried out through Bekim Zemoski and the teams in the logistics. I do not know what happened in June, I do not

know the details.

RD: Ok, let’s talk about this one piece at the time. I think you have not said anything on the record about the payments.

For the first two payments, in May 2005 and December 2005, how do you know what happened?

SB: Because I was familiar with all activities going on, the day they arrived in Skopje for signing of the Protocol….

RD: Who’s ‘they’?



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SB: Kontominas, Stavridis, Kefaloyannis, Sifakakis. Then, Sifakakis informed me, because he was responsible for the

security of the companies of Kontominas, and for the personal security of Kontominas himself, that he was present in

person at the handing over of the money in Athens to Bekim Zemoski, that people from the company followed him to the

border, …

RD: Let me back you up a little bit, start from the beginning, where did the money come from who paid the money?

SB: the money was paid personally by Dimitris Kontominas, in his villa, located near the new airport in Athens. This is

where the money which came to Skopje was raised from.

RD: Walk me through the flow of money, where did it start, and where did it end?

SB: The cash as agreed, was taken from the home, or from the villa of Dimitris Kontominas. The person responsible for

treasury in his home, it was a lady, I do not remember the name, and the Director for personal security Iraklis Sifakakis,

who was with him all the time, he was literally sleeping in the villa together with Kontominas, and Iraklis Fidetzis, he was

responsible for finances, who prepared all documents for financial transactions were the people present on the two

meetings when money was paid for Macedonia. Once they counted the money, the team from the security of Kontominas

together with Bekim Zemoski, with their own vehicles would continue to the border crossing ‘Bogorodica’ on the border

with Macedonia. Once they would cross the Greek border, in the free zone between the two border crossings, there they

would meet the team of Buckovski, the bodyguard, the driver, and with escort, without being controlled, they would cross

the Macedonian border.

RD: How did they avoid control at the border?

SB: The vehicles that they used were government vehicles, and they could be recognized at the border crossing from the

car plates.

RD: Were they using Macedonian government vehicles?

SB: Yes.



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RD: And what sort of passport did Bekim Zemoski have?

SB: In the first phase, Buckovski issued him an official passport, and later diplomatic passport. Initially, there was

problem for issuing diplomatic passport because he was not employed in the government. He was later employed by

means of agreement on deed as advisor of the Prime Minister. But most importantly, at the border crossing they would

announce their arrival, that they were meeting someone very important for the Prime Minister and that no one was

allowed to witness it. And of course the officers were obedient, and they saw with their own eyes the vehicles of the

government. It is a usual practice, no one makes control. Persons who possess diplomatic passport and plus they are

persons close to the Prime Minister, no one ever controlled them.

RD: And how do you know this?

SB: I know it from Iraklis Sifakakis, who accompanied them in the first transaction all the way to the border, and from

Bekim Zemoski himself, when he arrived he called me late in the evening to meet me and to tell me that everything had

been completed as it should. And he described how the whole procedure went on. The most important thing of all was tha

the entire operation finished without problems.

RD: And what happened after they left the border?

SB: Once they left the border, they went straight to the government premises, to the cabinet of the Prime Minister. There

is garage underneath the building, they would park the park in the garage, the driver and the bodyguard went straight up to

the Prime Minister, and Bekim Zemoski would take the official entrance to avoid all of them being seen together. Once

the part for Buckovski would be paid, the remaining part for Tetovo, the same team would continue to Tetovo.

RD: So the team at this point was Bekim Zemoski, and who were the other two?

SB: Bekim Zemoski, the personal bodyguard of Buckovski, I cannot remember the name, and the official driver of

Buckovski.

RD: The bodyguard was whose bodyguard?



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SB: It was the body guard of the Prime Minister, Toni, the surname I cannot remember. But we can check.

RD: You said after a portion was delivered to Buckovski the Prime Minister, what happened to the reminder of the

payment?

SB: The remainder of the money intended for Tetovo, the same team, would continue and travel to Tetovo. Straight to the

house of Kasami. Because this house was some sort of secret headquarters where they would all meet, Kasami, Ahmeti

and Xhaferi, they did not go to the party because there were a lot of people there on daily basis. To avoid being seen there

the money was handed over in the house of Kasami.

RD: I don’t know if we’ve covered this before, but who exactly was Kasami?

SB: Abdilhalim Kasami, originates from Turkey, he is not Albanian, he is a descendent of an old, famous (* with heritage

– note of the interpreter) Turkish family, however just like many Turkish people in Macedonia, for the Islamic religion, in

the western region of Macedonia, they declare themselves as Albanians. It is a usual practice, especially in the last

decades. Kasami, Xhaferi and Ahmeti have known each other since 1981. At that time there was a lot of disturbance, riots

in the former Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia, demonstrations of Albanians in Kosovo, especially radical were the

student demonstrations in Pristina, in the mine Trepca, it was a massive movement of Albanians at that time, and it was

normal that the services at that time would undertake some radical activities in order to make these movements die down

At that time Ali Ahmeti was in first year of studies, he was a freshman, and was brought un for detention in Macedonia

where he was tried in misdemeanor proceeding for participating in enemy demonstrations. He got a misdemeanor

sentence of 60-day detention. As at that time detention was not obligatory, when he was released from the police station

he fled for Switzerland. There he met the rest, where Kasami would go very often to visit his relatives and friends even

though he lived and worked in Denmark, as one of the leaders in the freedom movement in Kosovo, he accepts Ali

Ahmeti in the organization and starts to give Ali Ahmeti some assignments, money as well, employment for means of

existence; he also got a job for Musa Xhaferi in Belgium. He was some sort of a father figure to them. That is how they

called him, ‘adzo’, it means an older uncle, but symbolically it means ‘father’. They respected him a lot. This is where

their connection originates, between Kasami, Ahmeti and Xhaferi. When the war conflict started in Macedonia in March



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2001, at the proposal of Kasami, for the leader of the freedom fighting army of the Albanians in Macedonia was chosen

Ali Ahmeti. And he led the war movement on the Albanian party. However, with the intermediation of the international

organization and the NATO, the war was stopped and in August happened the signing of the Framework Agreement

when the militant freedom-fighting army was registered as political party in Macedonia. At that time Kasami came back

to Tetovo from Denmark, to help them in organizing the political party and in preparing for the upcoming elections in the

next 2002, when they got the majority of votes of the Albanians and won the elections. In a way, he was the initiator of

the movement in the political party..

RD: Is this Kasami?

SB: Yes, I am talking about him all the time. And this is why his house was some sort of spiritual headquarter of the party

He invested a lot in technical and physical security of the building, there were cameras all over, there was no possibility

for someone to get near the building in the range of 70-80 meters and not to get noticed by the cameras… there was strong

physical security as well.

RD: Are these things you saw yourself?

SB: Yes, because I have been to his house both before the assassination, and because I knew how it was, I asked him to

turn off the cameras, at the time when I would arrive. I explained that it was bad for them to be seen and to have evidence

that they have contacts with me, because I was head of the secret service. On the other hand, it was very strange when the

assassination happened, it was really strange, after having so much security, for the cameras to be turned off before that

for all the video recordings to disappear from the house, all CDs, everything… and for someone to get in his garage and

shoot him in his car so easily. It all pointed out to the fact that it was all organized from the inside. Otherwise it is

impossible for someone to get in, who does not belong to the inner circles.

RD: When you talk about the assassination, who are you talking about, who was attacked?

SB: Abdilhalim Kasami was under attack, after misunderstanding over the money. It was uncertain whether he would

survive at all. However he did survive and when he got better, he sent his nephew, current ambassador of Macedonia in



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SB: Yes. And that is what I remember. When I checked at what time the shooting happened, I established that Stavridis

called me 15 minutes after the assassination. And later when I asked him ‘how come you found out so quickly of the

shooting, of the assassination of Kasami, when you were in Athens, and I am in Skopje and I don’t know’, he said he had

confidential information from the Albanians. I was very surprised when he called me 15 minutes after the assassination

when not even the police knew what and how it happened. Maybe Kasami was right that they ordered the assassination. I

was never cleared out.

RD: Let’s get back to the timeline, we talked about the first two payments in May and December 2005. And you described

how the payments were delivered to Buckovski and to Tetovo. Were there any documents recording how much money

was paid?

SB: The procedure, even though I was not present during the payment was carried out in the manner already e explained

plus, once the money was taken from Athens, on a simple piece of paper Kontominas would only write the date, the hou

and the amount of money they handed over, and they would give it to Bekim Zemoski, that once he went to Buckovski,

Buckovski would write the date and hour, nothing more; and again, the recipient in Tetovo to sign in the same way and

that paper was to be taken back to Kontominas. It was a confirmation that their team had completed the assignment,

without any problems from the regular procedure.

RD: And did you see any of these papers?

SB: I was not personally present to see the documents, but Iraklis Sifakakis, who was regularly present at those meetings

and Bekim Zemoski himself, they told me that nothing happened in particular, that they only signed a plain piece of paper

and they returned it back to Kontominas. The essence of it was to avoid somebody from the team to steal any money, and

to confirm the date and hour of handing over. It was informal and they were required to telephone him, now we are in

base one, it is received, the money is received…’ and that was it.

RD: And this was described to you by Bekim Zemoski?



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SB: Both Bekim Zemoski and Iraklis Sifakakis who was personally present at the handing over of the money in both

cases.

RD: Now, you described the payments starting with cash in Athens. Do you have any information as to how the cash got

to Athens, where it came from before that?

SB: Kontominas had a lot of off-shore companies all over Europe, all over the world, it was a chain of off-shore

companies. For example, one would be in Luxembourg and it would establish another off-shore company in Cyprus, and

this one would appear in third location this in order to avoid tracking of the money. From these agreements, from

Netphone, which I think it was a matter of 4 – 4.6 million, by order of the National Bank, once the money would be paid

by Makedonski Telekom to Netphone, for bogus consulting services, then they would address the central – the nationa

bank for the bank to adopt a decision for transfer to Chaptex in Cyprus, and to transfer Macedonian Denar currency into

Euros or Dollars, depending on their wish. Because the governor of the central bank was in the circle of ‘friends’, it all

flew without any problems.

RD: Is the central bank in Macedonia?

SB: Yes, the central bank in the Republic of Macedonia. Every governor of ours was cooperating with the Government o

Macedonia.

RD: Once the money was in Cyprus then what happened to it?

SB: Once they would get to Cyprus, a team of Kontominas would go, since two persons from his family were most often

authorized to withdraw the money, it was never Kontominas in person. They were Dionisios Alexandros, and the other

Andreas Habiaris, both of them are his nephews from his brother.

RD: Kontominas’ nephews?

SB: Yes. They are sons of Kontominas’ brothers. They were authorized managers of most of the companies. And by

means of special authorization they would withdraw the money from Cyprus, the private jet of Kontominas would go to



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Cyprus, they would be brought to the airport, the villa of Kontominas is near to the airport in Athens, and this is how

much I know of this operation.

RD: And how do you know this?

SB: This information I have from Iraklis Fidetzis and Iraklis Sifakakis, and in one occasion Dionision Alexandros told me

that he had no real role in the company Cosmoline, but he received salary from the company and all he did was go to

Cyprus to get the money, and that he did nothing else. I have no other details. I was neither authorized nor did I request to

know anything about it. This is everything from what I’ve heard in casual conversation. I said it is not easy, how will you

take on such difficult task, it is not easy to do it. For them it wasn’t really a problem.

RD: We talked about the two payments in May and December 2005. Tell me what happened in June 2006?

SB: In 2006 it was agreed for a block transaction to be carried out at the stock exchange market, whereby the Macedonian

Government would sell 9.99% of the shares. At the same time there was scheduled the rebranding of Mobimak into T-

Mobile Macedonia. And before that, Kontominas and Soros, who had 5% and 6% respectively in Stonebridge, that they

would make these shares available and give the shares to Magyar Telekom. In what manner the payment was made to

Kontominas I do not know, but I know that for the 5% he owned, somewhere outside of Macedonia he got 65 million

Euros.

RD: Who did?

SB: Kontominas got 65 million Euros. But I do not know where the operation was carried out, it did not happen in

Macedonia, since it is a matter of off-shore company. The legal transaction in Macedonia was transfer of 9.99% of the

shares of the Macedonian Government.

RD: The question I was asking was more about the payment in June 2006, about the Non-Paper.

SB: This was a short introduction to get to that point. Because it was the time before the elections, everyone was in a

hurry to finish everything, even at the time there was this event to celebrate the rebranding at the city square, and

Buckovski was the first and most eager about the rebranding. But I was totally excluded from this operation because all



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the persons we mentioned so far, they built strong relations between themselves, I know that Vebi Velija was included in

the operation and the transfer, along with Bekim Zemoski, since Vebi Velija was one of the main financers of the political

party DUI and the Minister of Transport and Communications Xhemail Mehazi was his nephew, from the immediate

family. I don’t know any other reasons but he was very influential in DUI. I was almost completely excluded and the only

thing I know from Vebi Velija and Bekim Zemoski, that his obligation was also completed with success, in a lesser

amount than it was originally agreed. But since they organized a private jet from a cargo company in Thessaloniki, I do

not know where the money came from, how it was transferred. I have no details in this part, but I know for certain from

Kontominas that 10 million Euros were paid.

RD: Do you know who these 10 million was paid to?

SB: I am guessing to the same persons, but personally I have no knowledge, unlike for the first two transactions, when I

was familiar with the details.

RD: What did Kontominas tell you?

SB: That everything was completed successfully, that 2 million Euros were short from the treasury of Magyar Telekom,

which is why he requested the payment to be reduced to 10 million Euros. Other than this I have no knowledge of other

details and I didn’t want to get involved. The reason for this is, when Kefaloyannis told me that Buckovski forbid him to

inform me that allegedly it was dangerous for him to do so, I was very happy to hear that and I gave them my blessing to

continue with the entire proceeding and not to involve me, because it was not my business really. His only obligation was

to give me the documents to read them, Kefaloyannis told me that Buckovski had asked him not to give me the documents

in order not to conspire the situation and that he was uncomfortable that I had any knowledge of it. And this is how the

whole story was finished.

RD: So, you said there was a request to reduce a 12 million Euro payment to 10 million Euros? Is that the 12 million

described in paragraph 2 of the Non – Paper?



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SB: Yes, it is a matter of the sale and purchase of shares and rebranding of the company. Because Magyar Telekom at that

time estimated that if they paid only for 9.99% of the shares they would get a lot of profit, instead of making payment of

the entire package of shares, and they would get the same effect in the management of the company, they would be able to

freely dispose the entire assets in its entirety, the assets of Makedonski Telekom. And based on this appraisal estimation

everyone was expecting a lot of money. However, where this money had been paid I do not know.

RD: Did you have any conversations about the last setoff payment with Kontominas or Kasami?

SB: We had a mutual meeting with Kasami in Athens, when all the problems occurred with the money, 1.250 million

Euros was paid by Kontominas to Kasami.

SB: Let’s get back a little bit, I am not sure everything has been described for the record yet. So what were the problems.

SB: When there were tensions between them at the time of the assassination, when Kasami got better, he told me that one

part of the money had not been paid to Kasami and Ahmeti, i.e. it had not been paid to the political party. Buckovsk

assured them that everything he got he forwarded to them. When I called Kontominas to tell him there was a problem, he

himself requested an urgent meeting because he had been pressured by other Albanians regarding money. And as I

described the meeting, once Kasami got better we went to Athens and he made payment of 1.250 million Euros or one

half of the sum of 2.5 million Euros, even though Kontominas claimed that the entire amount had been handed over to

Buckovski. And that he had a signature that this amount had been handed over. But regardless of it, to avoid additional

problems, he made payment of additional 1.250 million Euros because he was scared for his life, he was scared of being

murdered. After that, I don’t know any details.

RD: So, the problems regarding the payments, when did you first become aware of problems.

SB: I became aware of the problems just before the assassination of Kasami.

RD: What did you become aware of at that time?

SB: Everyone was blaming one another, Stavridis and Kefaloyannis were blaming Magyar Telekom that they were being

late with the payment, with the realization of their obligations, that the Albanians also reacted because the obligation



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RD: What did Kasami tell you about that?

SB: He was convinced that Musa Xhaferi was the one who ordered and organized the assassination, that Ali Ahmeti must

have known about it, and he doubted that they want to eliminate him above all, and that after the meeting in Athens he

was convinced that Buckovski gave the money directly to Ahmeti, and they, in order to hide it from him, tried to convince

him that no money was received ever. Otherwise the man was very wealthy. I think there is direct connection, one with

the other. But there wasn’t really any thorough investigation, it was terminated at one point. I am talking about the police

investigation.

RD: Do you believe that Musa Xhaferi is the kind of person who is capable of doing an assassination?

SB: Personally I don’t think he is able to organize an assassination, but he can give order something like that to happen,

without problems. Because in the following period, it was show that, after the elimination of Kasami, the role of Musa

Xhaferi in the party was undisputable. Before that he did not have that great influence. Ever since then it is undisputable.

RD: Why don’t we take a short break, is that alright? Ok it is ten minutes after two, we’re going off the record now.

Part three

RD: We are back on the record at 14:42 pm. I’d like to ask you some questions about consulting agreements between

MakTel and Chaptex, and I want to ask you you’ve ever seen these agreements. First, have you ever seen any consultancy

agreements between MakTel and Chaptex involving work on the Labor Law in Macedonia?

SB: This agreement I have seen, it said that this company shall work on the new legislation and shall prepare the new Law

on Labor relations.

RD: My first question is where did you see this agreement, and when?

SB: This agreement, I saw with the Manager of Netphone Janis Janakopoulos, who shortly after was replaced by Iraklis

Sifakakis.



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RD: Do you know when you saw this agreement?

SB: It was at the beginning of 2006 that I saw this agreement. I cannot remember the exact date when it had been

concluded. It was in copy, and he showed me in order for me to see what kind of agreements they concluded. Because, at

the same time with this agreement, other agreements had also been concluded with Netphone, of the same nature. The

money from Netphone were forwarded to the same company Chaptex in Cyprus. They were referring to market research,

agreements on frequencies, but I cannot remember the dates when these agreements had been concluded, I saw them

copies from Sifakakis. Then I asked him why Kefaloyannis never gave these agreements for me to have a look at. Because

it was known that Kontominas had ordered him to show me every document. He said he didn’t know, but once

Kefaloyannis came to Skopje we would discuss this. Then Kefaloyannis told me that regarding these documents, the

Prime Minister Buckovski asked him not to show these documents to me because I’m not authorized and because he was

not comfortable for somebody who is not authorized to read these documents. It is then that I told Kefaloyannis that it was

a big mistake to sign such agreement, and for it to be approved by the management board of the Telekom, and to pay

money for such matter when nobody of the persons involved has any contacts with legislation in the Republic o

Macedonia. Obviously these were bogus agreements that were only to provide flow of money from the Telekom to these

companies in Cyprus.

RD: Did you have any discussions about those concerns with Kefaloyannis?

SB: Yes, we discussed this with him. I told him he should have shown these documents to me, and I never would have let

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