Alta Banka Collapse Leaves Russian Émigrés and Their Firms in Limbo

Three days after the National Bank of Serbia (NBS) shut Alta banka, its clients still do not know when they will see their money. On Monday the central bank issued guidance telling account holders, both individuals and companies, to address their questions directly to the Deposit Insurance Agency (AOD). The same statement explained why that does not help yet: the agency can only take over as the bank’s receiver, and gain access to its records, once the competent court appoints it.

The Belgrade Commercial Court’s ruling had been expected on Monday. By the time of publication no decision had been announced. Every deadline that matters to depositors runs from that ruling, not from the day the licence was revoked.

Why Russians are hit hardest

Alta was one of very few Serbian banks that opened accounts for Russian citizens with little paperwork. After 2022 it became the default bank for many of the Russians who moved to Serbia, for personal accounts, deposits, salary cards and accounts for sole traders and small companies. Russian media and Meduza report clients who kept the proceeds of flat sales in Russia there, people whose wages were paid onto Alta cards, and entrepreneurs who ran rent, taxes, payroll and supplier payments through the bank.

The problem is not only the money that is frozen. For many relocants an Alta account was the only account they could get. Some used Alta statements in residence-permit applications, and some report that other banks turn them away even with a Serbian permit. Until they can open a new account, they cannot receive income or run a business.

What the law guarantees

Serbian deposit insurance covers up to €50,000 per depositor per bank, counting all current, savings and term accounts in dinars and foreign currency together, with interest up to the date bankruptcy opens. According to Nova Ekonomija, individuals are covered whether or not they are Serbian residents, which includes Russian citizens. Sole traders and micro, small and medium-sized companies are covered only if they are residents; a Russian company without Serbian registration is not.

The AOD has said it has enough money in the fund. Payouts are due to start no later than seven working days after the court opens bankruptcy proceedings. They will be made by another bank chosen by the agency, not by Alta, and the agency is to publish the name of that bank and the procedure within three working days of the ruling. Dinar deposits are paid in dinars and foreign-currency deposits in euros. Depositors have three years to claim.

Anything above €50,000 becomes a claim in the bankruptcy. It is paid, if at all, only as the bank’s assets are sold, which can take years. That is the main risk for clients who parked the proceeds of a property sale in Alta.

The daily-takings problem

Monday’s NBS statement also acknowledged a problem specific to businesses: shops, cafés and other firms that banked with Alta cannot pay their daily cash takings into a business account within the legal deadline. The central bank did not offer a solution. It said companies could ask the Finance Ministry how to meet their fiscal obligations. For small Russian-owned businesses, often run by people who had trouble opening an account anywhere else, that means a new account elsewhere is needed before the tax risk grows.

The NBS has also revoked the electronic-money licence of Alta Group, the bank’s parent company, which covered payment services.

Behind the collapse

The NBS said it acted after Alta’s financial position deteriorated sharply and liquidity measures failed. Four vice-governors later said the bank’s real position had differed drastically from what it reported to the regulator. The bank’s owner, Davor Macura, a businessman widely associated with the Serbian Progressive Party, which lost the 25 October election, was arrested on Monday. Prosecutors suspect he withdrew money from the bank’s vault and obtained a gain of 45 billion dinars, almost €385 million.

What clients can do now

Do not queue at Alta branches: the bank is closed and cannot pay anything. Watch the AOD website, aod.rs, for the name of the paying bank; you will need an identity document and proof of your relationship with Alta. Open an account at another bank now rather than after the payout, so that salaries, rent and taxes can move. Businesses that cannot bank their takings should put their question to the Finance Ministry in writing and keep the reply. Anyone with more than €50,000 in Alta should prepare to file a claim in the bankruptcy as soon as the court sets the deadline.