Government and opposition trade accusations over ALTA Bank case

The National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia (NBRM) says it still has no information about a potential buyer for ALTA Bank nor confirmation from Serbia about any sale of the bank’s shares; where and how the shares would be sold depends on information expected from Belgrade. The NBRM also announced that a new ALTA Bank cash office will open tomorrow in the Biser shopping centre in Skopje to allow clients without payment cards to withdraw funds at the teller.

Central bank statement and temporary administration

In its latest notice the central bank said it is monitoring ALTA Bank AD Bitola and taking steps to gradually widen access to banking services, prioritising customers’ access to their funds and the uninterrupted execution of payment services.

Translated quote from the NBRM: "The National Bank continues to closely monitor the situation at 'ALTA Bank' AD Bitola and to take measures for the gradual expansion of the availability of banking services, with priority to enable all clients easier access to their own funds and unimpeded execution of payment services. 'ALTA Bank' AD Bitola continues to operate, and the temporary administration is a protective measure applied until the ownership situation is resolved."

Political tensions escalated after opposition leaders accused the prime minister of directly involving himself in finding buyers for the bank. Venko Filipche of SDSM publicly questioned in what capacity Hristijan Mickoski was acting.

Translated quote from Venko Filipche: "I have been hearing in recent days Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski say that he has found buyers for ALTA Bank. He has found buyers for ALTA Bank. In what capacity? What is Prime Minister Mickoski? A dealer, an intermediary, a finder of potential buyers of banks here. Was he, just as he now finds buyers for ALTA Bank Skopje, the person who brought ALTA Bank Serbia to us?"

The ruling party responded with counter-accusations, mentioning Eurostandard Bank and alleging past questionable transactions involving state actors.

Translated quote from Brane Petrushevski of VMRO-DPMNE: "Filipche and Zaev must publicly and unequivocally answer whether they knew about the inflow of 110 million euros from Venezuela into Macedonia and whether anyone from the then government had a role in the transactions. In 2019, when Zaev was prime minister and Filipche was minister, transactions worth 110 million euros were carried out through Eurostandard Bank — suspicious money from Venezuela, which at that time was under sanctions."

About ten days ago the owner of ALTA Bank, Davor Macura, was arrested in Serbia and is now in custody. In North Macedonia the NBRM introduced temporary administration at the bank and limits on withdrawals, measures that provoked public outrage and queues at branches opened to pensioners without payment cards and to certain social assistance beneficiaries.

Tomorrow a supervisory hearing on the ALTA Bank case will be held in the Assembly.

Photo: press material from the event