Mickoski: Alta Bank is liquid and will not collapse like Eurostandard

Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski told a parliamentary supervisory hearing on Alta Bank that he will work to find a solution and will not ignore the problem, adding that the state and its institutions must act to stabilise the situation.

Speaking at the session, Mickoski said he is stepping into a process aimed first at protecting the bank’s employees and then its creditors. He stressed that the bank is liquid and that the National Bank intervened in a timely, by-the-book manner to preserve the institution.

"I stand by the position, not only I, I suppose also the witnesses to follow, that this bank is absolutely liquid, that our system has mechanisms to keep it stable and that our system, in the operation of this bank, has kept it as it is. The mechanisms available to the National Bank intervened in time, and according to all the experts I consulted, they all say that action was taken absolutely on time, as 'by the book', all with the aim to save this financial institution," Mickoski stressed.

Comparison with Eurostandard

The prime minister warned that measures in hand and those to follow are designed to protect both citizens and the state, and that Alta Bank will not collapse as Eurostandard did during the SDSM government.

"Finally, in the end, we will reach a solution and this bank will not go bankrupt like Eurostandard, which went bankrupt after, a few days earlier, the minister of finance, a minister in the government of SDSM and BDI (DUI), withdrew his savings deposit, which is something scandalous. That is the essence of these matters," Mickoski said.

On his contacts with governor Trajko Slaveski, Mickoski criticised what he called a campaign of falsehoods by a political party and said it is logical that the prime minister learns about a bank acquisition from the National Bank rather than from the media.

"I don't know how else it would work, except the way a system functions. If it is not so, then it is chaos, and then we really have a problem. I would not want, while I am prime minister, any institution to have a problem. In what capacity am I offering it, selling it or whatever they called me. I in no capacity, I have legitimacy from approximately 450,000 citizens, who at the last parliamentary elections gave their trust to the coalition I lead and if you add the votes of the coalition partners, which they won in the parliamentary elections, then we come to a figure that is over 600,000 votes," Mickoski emphasised, reiterating his mandate and defending his role in the process.

Photo: press material from the event