Panicked customers rush to ATMs to retrieve their money: six days after the opposition’s victory in Serbia’s elections, a bank closely tied to the outgoing ruling power loses its banking licence

The National Bank of Serbia announced on Saturday the withdrawal of the license of Alta banka, a banking establishment whose owner is, according to local media, close to the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) of former President Aleksandar Vucic, the big loser in the recent early legislative elections. This decision comes six days after the election, after which the Student List won an absolute majority, with 141 seats out of 250 in Parliament, against 103 for the SNS, according to the latest projections from the Electoral Commission. The decision to withdraw the license was taken “in order to protect the interests of depositors and preserve the stability of the financial system,” the National Bank said in a statement.

“The bank's financial situation has deteriorated considerably in recent times, and there has been the risk of further deterioration of its financial situation or liquidity,” according to the same source. According to several local media, this bank is run by businessman Davor Macura, who is also its owner and who would be close to the SNS. This bank "has looked like a real economic miracle in recent years, which has often been attributed to its close links with the SNS", writes the weekly Vreme on its website.

In July 2025, the student movement denounced the authorities' decision to award Alta banka the payment of electricity bills to the national company. With around 3% of the market, Alta banka is however not among the largest in the country. On Thursday, the president of the Democratic Party (DS, opposition), Srdjan Milivojevic, told the media that he had filed a criminal complaint after having "obtained information" about the "preparation of a decision" by the National Bank aimed at authorizing the transfer of "50 million euros" by Alta banka to a "correspondent bank abroad".

Bankruptcy proceedings have been initiated In a second press release, the Central Bank explained that bankruptcy proceedings had been initiated and that the management of Alta banka had been entrusted to the Deposit Insurance Agency. “This measure makes it possible to keep the bank's assets under surveillance and avoid their dissipation, so that all creditors, primarily individuals and businesses (...), can recover their funds as quickly as possible,” indicates the same source.

Panicked customers of the bank rushed to its branches and ATMs in Serbia, but also in North Macedonia, where it has a subsidiary, to try to get their money back, media reported. These withdrawals are now no longer possible in Serbia, where the deposits will be reimbursed later, according to the National Bank. The subsidiary of Alta banka in North Macedonia, for its part, indicated that its activities were continuing normally in this neighboring country.

Machine-translated from French