Nikola Spasov, sole Balkan representative for the scandal-hit company, told BIRN in an interview that the company had worked professionally on two campaigns in the region.
Nikola Spasov became the Balkans representative for Cambridge Analytica in January 2017. He told BIRN that since then the firm has worked on two election campaigns in the region.
“Cambridge Analytica has not worked in Macedonia so far, either in political campaigns or for commercial clients. It worked on two campaigns in the region, in which I was personally engaged,” he says.
“Absolutely no illegal methods were used in those campaigns; on the contrary, they were conducted professionally, according to top world standards, using advanced research and communication tools.”
Owing to the nature of the work, Spasov cannot reveal where they were conducted or who the clients were.
Spasov is a familiar face among Macedonians, who have got used to seeing him in election campaigns, presenting surveys conducted by the polling agency he runs, Rejting [Rating].
He came in the spotlight after the Cambridge Analytica affair unfolded, over a selfie he posted last year with Alexander Nix, the suspended chief executive of the data analytics company.
“I made this selfie photo in Sofia last year; we were there at a meeting and a lunch with potential clients and were developing a partner network. So far, I have had several meetings with the company’s management in several countries in the region,” he said.
The cooperation came about by accident, after a former colleague from university connected them. Spasov now contacts potential clients from the region and promotes the company’s services.
Cambridge Analytica is in hot water after it was revealed that it obtained access to more than 50 million Facebook users’ data in 2014.
This was then allegedly collected, shared, and stored without users’ consent and allegedly used in the 2016 Brexit referendum and the US presidential elections.
The investigation into the company are ongoing in UK.
“I think the investigation will be over soon, I guess in a week or two the truth will be known,” Spasov said.
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