Former Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski has been sentenced to two years in prison for corruption.

A court found he had unlawfully influenced officials over the purchase of a luxury bulletproof Mercedes Benz worth $700,000 in 2012.

Prosecutors used secret recordings to show that Gruevski had influenced a member of a tender commission to promote a particular car dealer to supply the vehicle for his personal use.

Gruevski was eventually forced out of office because of a wire-tapping scandal.