The National Bank regularly conducts supervisory activities over all banks in North Macedonia and acts in full compliance with its statutory competences, the institution said on Wednesday.
Regarding current media allegations concerning transfers of money from Serbia abroad, it pointed out that its counterpart institution, Serbia’s National Bank, had already issued an official statement. North Macedonia’s central bank presented that stance following allegations that capital began draining from Serbia to accounts in Russia and North Macedonia following the Serbian elections.
A day after the elections in which Aleksandar Vucic’s Serbian Progressive Party lost power, a bank from Serbia began transferring funds to accounts in Russia and North Macedonia, where that bank, or individuals affiliated with it, hold ownership stakes, Serbian attorney Ivan Ninic said. Serbiantimes.info subsequently reported that Alta Banka Belgrade had begun transferring large sums of money from the accounts of individuals and companies in Serbia “close to the Vucic regime” to accounts abroad in Russia and North Macedonia.
Serbia’s Alta Banka acquired over 95% of shares in Stopanska Banka Bitola, now renamed Alta Banka AD (JSC) Bitola. SDSM said it was demanding an urgent investigation into whether dirty money from the Vucic regime was flowing into the country. The National Bank of Serbia had earlier said that disseminating unverified claims did not contribute to objective reporting.