VMRO-DPMNE, the ruling political party, has urged the Public Prosecutor’s Office to investigate Sashko Mitovski, the SDSM mayor of Kriva Palanka, accusing him of spreading false information regarding water pollution in Kriva Reka following an incident at the “Toranica” mine.

VMRO-DPMNE alleges that Mayor Mitovski knowingly misled the public by claiming cyanide levels in Kriva Reka were 100 times above the permissible limit, creating unnecessary panic for political gain before local elections. The mayor had previously cited accredited laboratory reports indicating serious pollution in the river, posing a threat to human health, flora, and fauna. Specifically, he mentioned significantly elevated levels of heavy metals, including a tenfold increase in lead, as well as increased concentrations of cyanide, phosphorus, and nitrogen.

However, Ivana Ginovska, director of the State Environmental Inspectorate, refuted these claims, stating that cyanide levels were only about twice the permitted level, not hundreds of times as the mayor asserted. She also acknowledged that inspectors did not collect samples on the day of the accident but insisted that the inspectors are independent. Ginovska suggested that the mayor may have misinterpreted the laboratory results, causing unnecessary alarm.

In response, SDSM accused Ginovska of protecting polluters instead of citizens, raising concerns about the close ties between the inspectors and the Bulmak mine responsible for the pollution. The State Inspectorate’s report attributed the incident to a burst pipe supplying technological water.

“Bulmak” 2016 has been fined 180,000-200,000 euros for the legal entity and 10,000 euros for the responsible person, which is the highest penalty in the law on the environment, and the case has been referred to the Settlement Commission at the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning.