Alta Bank probe: calls for responsibility after owner Davor Macura’s arrest

Calls for legal responsibility have intensified after the arrest in Serbia of Alta Bank’s owner, Davor Macura, and constitutional judge Osman Kadriu said authorities must identify who allowed the bank to operate in the country. Political parties traded accusations over who enabled Alta Bank’s entry and whether state bodies failed to spot irregularities.

Kadriu warned that doubts about depositors’ ability to access their funds carry serious consequences for citizens’ rights. "Then if there are consequences, without any doubt the question of responsibility cannot remain unanswered. The competent bodies must determine the holders of those responsible persons or bodies who allowed such a bank to be opened with such lawful and unlawful elements, with such funds, with such capital which, by the origin of its source, also raises doubts," he said.

Opposition SDSM urged the state public prosecutor, Nenad Saveski, to act on criminal charges filed against National Bank governor Trajko Slaveski and other officials, demanding precautionary steps. "Saveski should take precautionary measures, including a temporary ban on Trajko Slaveski performing his duties. To prevent influence on witnesses, destruction of documentation and evidence. In Serbia there are arrests every day. The prosecution is working. They are taking investigations out of the drawer. Here Mickoski copies Vučić and files complaints against the opposition for spreading panic," said Frčkoski from SDSM.

Prime minister rejects collapse scenario, points to banking moves

Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski dismissed claims that the bank would fail and argued that recent measures will lead to a new owner for Stopanska banka Bitola. "What we are doing and what we have done in the recent period will result in a new owner of 'Stopanska banka Bitola' and that everything will be as it should. After all, proof of that is the continued lifting of, I would say, the measures that were applied at the very beginning. And whether there was or wasn't cash, I call on you to go to some of the branches to ask the citizens who go there and who withdraw what belongs to them, ask them whether there is cash or not. I cannot answer, because I do not have an account in 'Stopanska banka Bitola'," the prime minister said.

So far there is no public confirmation from either the National Bank or the Serbian Deposit Insurance Agency that the deadline set by the National Bank has produced an answer or that consent has been received. Meanwhile, new accusations were levelled at DUI: Vredi party representatives said that DUI leader Ali Ahmeti, through the Kichevo firm AS Senjak owned by his relative Selaudin Arifi, received a €5 million loan from Alta Bank Belgrade.

"This is not ordinary business, this is a classic scheme of political-financial corruption. Therefore, today we publicly call on the Public Prosecutor's Office and the Financial Intelligence Unit to immediately open the international transactions from 9 June 2025 and to investigate the circumstances under which this loan from Belgrade was approved, what collateral covered it and into which accounts in Macedonia the five million euros from 'Alta Bank' ended up?" Tahiri of Vredi said. DUI responded earlier that the party was being falsely linked to Alta Bank’s entry and that all permits had been granted in 2025 by institutions led by the current government.

Photo: press material from the event