Astri Iseni, deputy interior minister from VLEN, accused former DUI structures and relatives of the party’s leader, Ali Ahmeti, of involvement in a suspected financial scheme. According to him, the actions in question are linked to the entry of Alta Bank into North Macedonia’s banking market.
During a news conference, Iseni called on the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Financial Intelligence Office to investigate the transactions. He said the institutions should examine the connection between a €5 million loan taken out on June 9, 2025, and the sale of shares on September 17, 2025.
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In his presentation, the deputy minister stated that Serbian oligarch Davor Macura, who is currently being held in pretrial detention in Serbia, secured control of the former Stopanska Banka in Bitola by purchasing shares from Selahudin Arifi’s family company. Iseni identified Arifi as Ali Ahmeti’s in-law. The bank was later renamed Alta Bank Macedonia.
Recounting the sequence of events, Iseni said that the entry of AS Senjak, a company from Kicevo, into the banking sector dates back to October 2024. According to him, the company owned by Selahudin Arifi then bought a substantial package of shares in Stopanska Banka in Bitola.
The deputy minister claimed that Macura bought directly from Ahmeti’s in-law’s company the shares that enabled him to enter Alta Bank. In his assessment, the subsequent financial actions demonstrate a connection between Arifi’s company and Macura’s business.
As part of this chronology, he cited June 9, 2025, when, according to him, a company linked to Ahmeti’s family circle received a €5 million loan directly at Alta Bank’s headquarters in Belgrade.
Iseni said that only three months after the loan, on September 17, 2025, the final sale of the shares took place. According to the version he presented, AS Senjak, Ahmeti’s in-law’s company, officially transferred its shares in the Bitola bank to Davor Macura and his Alta Bank, enabling them to take direct control of the bank in North Macedonia.
Linking the June loan to the September sale, the deputy minister described the scheme as completely clear, saying it extended along the Zajas–Kicevo–Belgrade route. He assessed that the timing of these actions raised suspicions requiring investigation by the competent authorities.
One of the issues raised by Iseni was the source of the financing. He asked whether the €5 million loan that, according to him, Alta Bank in Belgrade granted in June to companies linked to Ahmeti’s relatives could have been used directly or indirectly to finance Macura’s entry into the Macedonian market.
He also called for clarification as to whether the share transaction dated September 17, 2025, was connected to the June loan. His questions also included the price difference, net profit and possible commissions that Ahmeti’s family business circle may have received.
In his accusations, Iseni also included former DUI officials Fatmir Besimi, Bujar Osmani and Artan Grubi. He claimed that they provided political support for Alta Bank’s entry into North Macedonia’s financial sector.
According to the position expressed by VLEN, while the former officials were politically facilitating Macura’s path through state institutions, Ali Ahmeti’s in-law was holding the shares in order to resell them to him later.
Iseni insisted that the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Financial Intelligence Office no longer had any reason to delay action. He called for an urgent investigation to address together the €5 million loan of June 9, 2025, and the sale of the shares on September 17, 2025.
In conclusion, the deputy minister said the country’s banking system should not fall into the hands of those he described as regional oligarchs in pretrial detention and a family business cartel linked to Ali Ahmeti. He called for financial and criminal accountability for these transactions if investigations confirm violations of the law.
