Mickoski: 2023 SDSM and DUI government established business ties with Davor Macura before Alta Bank entered

Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski, appearing as a witness at a parliamentary oversight hearing on Alta Bank, told MPs that the government led by SDSM and DUI in 2023 had already established business contacts with Davor Macura before the bank entered the North Macedonian market.

Key documents and exchanges

Mickoski presented an official decision published in the Official Gazette No. 123 of 2023 that, he said, shows the then-government approved the sale of shares in Stopanska Banka AD Bitola — the institution that later became Alta Bank. He also cited a draft transcript of the cabinet meeting from 24 October 2023 as evidence that the issue was discussed while Dimitar Kovacevski was prime minister.

Holding the draft record in his hand, Mickoski addressed members of the former cabinet and argued they knew the identity of the investor. "Did they not know then who Davor Macura is? At that government session half the government was present. They all voted. The decision to bring in Davor Macura was made by the government of SDSM with DUI. I will not read the entire transcript, it would not be proper," he said.

Mickoski added a detailed charge about instructions given to state bodies: "My thesis is the following, that in 2023 the government of SDSM and DUI made a decision to instruct the State Attorney's Office to enter into communication with this same person Davor Macura and Alta Bank Serbia and to enter into business relations with Alta Bank. Your government, Mr. Venko Filipche, and DUI, on the proposal of the minister from DUI, Fatmir Besimi, ordered the State Attorney's Office to enter into business relations with the person Davor Macura, the owner of Alta Bank Serbia, and to transfer the shares owned by Macedonia, which it has in the bank that Davor Macura is buying, i.e. Alta Bank. So long before Alta Bank came to Macedonia you as a government established business relations with that person," he said.

The exchange with SDSM MP Venko Filipche grew sharper when Filipche reminded Mickoski that he had been prime minister in 2025 and that Alta Bank entered the market while Mickoski held that office. "You were prime minister in 2025. Alta Bank entered at a time when you were prime minister, and Trajko Slaveski was governor," Filipche said.

Filipche warned about reputational risks and referenced criminal proceedings: "You defend the bank as if it were yours. As if Deutsche Bank or some world bank would enter here, and not Alta Bank whose owner is now in prison for money laundering in Serbia. You have an obligation to know the credibility of the owner of the bank entering the market. What is happening is proof that our warning was correct. The key question is why you allowed such a bank to enter our country. Why did you not see how this bank was punished in Austria. What is the price that now all of us have to pay for the suspicion in the banking sector," he pointed out.

MP Bojan Stojanoski of VMRO-DPMNE reiterated that an official decision from 2023 — published in Official Gazette No. 123 — authorised the sale of shares in Stopanska Banka AD Bitola. The session included multiple political accusations about which cabinet and which decisions led to Alta Bank's entry into North Macedonia.

At the hearing Mickoski also replied to procedural questions from MPs: "I do not understand what my capacity is here, but I will answer all questions from the MPs," he said.

Photo: Printskrin