Alta Banka and the Savers, a Resignation Demand for Slaveski, the Goats of Bitola, Violence in Tetovo

Alta Banka: the owner without a license, the savers with a press release

At 02:34 the National Bank of Serbia announced it was pulling the license of Alta Banka in Belgrade, five days after Vučić's government fell at the elections. That bank owns Alta Banka AD Bitola, the former Stopanska Banka, so the question reached us immediately. Our National Bank replies that the decision "does not in itself mean the automatic withdrawal of the operating license" in Bitola and that it "is monitoring the situation." Legally, that holds up. But "is monitoring" doesn't tell you what it sees.

The nine-month figures say more: a net loss of 48.64 million denars, against a profit of 49.15 million last year. So the bank was losing money even before the Belgrade decision. It claims to be liquid, deposits stand at 8.91 billion denars, and the Deposit Insurance Fund pays out up to 30,000 euros per saver per bank. Economic expert Pavle Gacov is calming savers, but also wants the governor to speak publicly and supervision to be stepped up. When even the person urging calm wants tighter supervision, who will explain to people what exactly the National Bank is seeing?

Filipče demands a resignation, Mickoski points to the regulator

SDSM leader Venko Filipče demanded the resignation of Governor Trajko Slaveski and an investigation into how Alta entered our market. He also asks whether the deposits of citizens and public enterprises are at risk, and how much public-enterprise money sits there, the reports from the press conference give no figure. He made the accusations about criminal money by citing media and political contacts in Serbia. If SDSM has documents, now is the moment to show them.

Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski, in an interview aired on October 29, two days before the Belgrade decision, said: "I don't know if everything is in order, but for a bank to come to Macedonia, there is a clearing process like that within the National Bank." And so the ball ended up with Slaveski. Who checked the origin of the capital when the bank came here, and what did they find?

Bitola: passers-by find the goats, the inspectors don't

Mayor Toni Konjanovski said "I feel powerless" at a Council session, about the horses and goats on Bitola's streets. He then added that inspectors had unsuccessful raids because somebody was telling people in advance when they were coming. That's no longer a municipal utilities problem, but a mayor claiming something is leaking from the institutions, and who's leaking it, he didn't say. The municipal decision bans keeping livestock in the city, the people of Bitola know who owns the goats, and Konjanovski is calling for joint pressure. Who are citizens supposed to pressure, when the one asking for pressure is the man running the municipality?

Violence: Tetovo, Jane Sandanski and the bulletins without motives

On October 29 the Emergency Center in Tetovo informed police of a 14-year-old child with serious bodily injuries. According to the report, a peer attacked the child, on school grounds. Near a shopping center in the city, two minors aged 17 and 16 attacked a 62-year-old man and took his money. There isn't a motive in any bulletin, and some Tetovo residents say they now drive their children everywhere by car. How many bulletins like these have to be lined up side by side before someone in charge steps forward and says what is happening to the children of Tetovo?

Outside Jane Sandanski in Aerodrom, according to the Interior Ministry, a smaller group from "Family" attacked Rabotnički fans with pyrotechnics as they waited to enter the basketball game. One man ended up in hospital, one person was detained. MZT wasn't playing that night, so this doesn't look like an incident from the stands. How did the "several members" of the police description shrink to one detained person?

The bulletins on three domestic violence reports end differently. Two men, in Veles and Ohrid, were detained. For the third, who according to the report attacked his wife with a hard object in the Bit Pazar area, it says measures are being taken. And only eight of 100 Roma women are employed, according to figures from the Commission for the Prevention and Protection Against Discrimination. "They have nowhere to go back to," says Sabina Asanova of the association "Rodop." Who can name the shelter places and programs for these women?

Kičevo, Gazi Baba, Kozle: numbers without a list

Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Nikoloski named around 360 million denars in Kičevo and called it "direct support." The street he stopped on costs around 30 million, and work on it began on October 15. For the remaining 330 million, the statements have no list.

Gazi Baba signed a memorandum with investors from the Emirates, with no sum, project or deadline. The new kindergarten in Kozle will take 146 children and have 600 square meters of underground parking, and the press release has no deadline or price. Skopje cleared street vendors near the Clinical Center, the Green Market and Bunjakovec and says "we won't allow it," without saying how many fines there were. The law requires a textile collection center in every municipality over 30,000 residents, and the first will be in Štip, with German money. Any of these stories could turn out well. The checking starts when the missing number shows up.

Billions in the accounts, fees on the statement

Household deposits stood at 7.51 billion euros in September, and loans to citizens at about 4.93 billion. The average of around 4,100 euros per resident exists only on a calculator, because the sum includes money in transaction accounts. Komercijalna Banka earned about 68.4 million euros in nine months. Its fee income rose 21.9 percent, and the bank says it cut its fees. Every customer can check that on their own statement.

Serbia: Vučić back at the party's helm, RTS apologizes

Six days after the defeat, the SNS main board accepted with applause the proposal that Vučić return to the party's helm, with the formal decision due on December 13. First he said the party must change its "hubris and arrogance," then he talked about "the dregs and the slime" when describing the new government. The self-criticism didn't survive to the end of the speech.

One week after the elections, the public broadcasters apologized to viewers "for everything left out in the previous period," and the owner of Pink announced layoffs for around a thousand employees. What exactly was left out, and on whose orders, is the question that remains after the apology.

Mišo Kovač falls silent

Mišo Kovač died at 85, at his home in Split. He leaves behind more than 20 million records sold and songs known even by people who never bought a single one. The state fell apart, and the songs outlived the border.

Sport: a sold-out Jane and a list without Peševski

From 17:45 today Vardar and Eurofarm Pelister play before a sold-out Jane Sandanski, and the club is asking spectators to come 15 minutes early because a choreography is being prepared across the whole arena. Head coach Kiril Lazarov announced his squad for the start of the EURO 2028 qualifiers: Dmytro Horiha will make his debut, and the experienced Žarko Peševski isn't on it. In basketball, Rabotnički beat Skopje 89-79 and remain the only unbeaten team in the Superleague.

In the heavier part of the day, from Bitola to Tetovo, the institutions write that they are monitoring and taking measures. What exactly they're seeing, they have yet to say.