National Bank takes control of Alta Bank as withdrawals are capped
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The central bank has placed Alta Bank AD Bitola under temporary administration, closing branches and limiting weekly withdrawals to 10,000 denars. Officials describe the move as a protective measure to ensure smooth operations until ownership issues are resolved, though the intervention has done little to soothe nerves in Bitola. For many residents, the sight of locked doors and withdrawal limits revives memories of the TAT savings house collapse, which left pensioners and depositors empty-handed decades ago.
The governing VMRO-DPMNE coalition lost the mayoral race in Brvenica to the Democratic Union for Integration by just 201 votes. Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski reacted to the narrow defeat by declaring that his party stands alone against everyone. In politics, as in banking, confidence is often a matter of who you believe is still standing on your side.
The prosecutor’s office in Skopje has launched an investigation into four people suspected of tying up and beating two victims to death in Gjorce Petrov to steal gold. Elsewhere, a 27-year-old and an infant were found dead in Gjilan; the young man’s father is in custody. In Kočani, emergency services responded to a fire at a local bus company.