Postal Savings Bank: Karovic Claim and NBS Response
A Student List candidate says an attempt to move about one billion dinars out of the bank was stopped in time. The National Bank of Serbia says supervision of banks is constant.
Nemanja Karovic, a Student List candidate, said on the evening of October 28 on RTS’s Drugi dnevnik news show that an attempt was made to move about one billion dinars out of the Postal Savings Bank. The National Bank of Serbia (NBS) responded the next day, October 29, saying the banking sector is stable and under constant supervision. Its statement also warned that airing unverified suspicions fuels uncertainty.
What did Karovic say about the Postal Savings Bank?
Karovic, an assistant professor at the University of Belgrade’s Faculty of Teacher Education, claims the attempt was stopped by employees of institutions he did not name. According to him, it could have endangered the bank’s liquidity and the regular payment of salaries and pensions, but citizens, as he put it, should not worry.
“There are serious indications that an attempt was made to take a huge amount of money, about one billion dinars, out of the Postal Savings Bank, which could have endangered the financial system, the bank’s liquidity and possibly led to disruptions in the regular payment of salaries and pensions. Fortunately, that was prevented in time thanks to honest and professional people in those institutions. The National Bank of Serbia and the competent prosecutor’s office were informed,” Karovic said.
In the reports we reviewed, neither the Postal Savings Bank nor the prosecutor’s office has responded. Karovic did not say who tried to take the money out, or how the attempt was stopped.
According to the portal 021, lawyer Ivan Ninic had earlier publicly asked the NBS to carry out urgent supervision of a bank he did not name. He claimed it was rapidly moving money to accounts and legal entities in Moscow and Skopje, cited an inside source, and called for an extraordinary inspection and interim measures. We could not confirm the date of that request, and no link to Karovic’s claim has been established.
What did the National Bank of Serbia answer?
Governor Jorgovanka Tabakovic said the central bank continuously monitors the soundness and legality of operations at all banks, regardless of their ownership structure. The statement neither confirms nor denies the specific claims. It cites the confidentiality of supervisory proceedings.
“Information about specific inspection proceedings, their course, the content of individual findings and other data that constitute confidential supervisory information cannot be disclosed to the public beyond what the law allows. These restrictions do not affect the NBS’s obligation to act in accordance with the law, nor do they mean that supervision is not being carried out. On the contrary,” Tabakovic said.
The governor added that measures are taken whenever irregularities are found, depending on their nature and significance. She also said that preserving the stability of the banking system is a permanent NBS priority, and that “regulatory supervision is carried out continuously, in accordance with the law and independently of current public and political circumstances.”
The statement ends with a warning that responsibility for financial stability lies “not only with the NBS but also with all other institutions and individuals who carelessly present unverified suspicions and fuel uncertainty.”
What else did Karovic say in the same appearance?
In the same appearance, Karovic spoke about Telekom Srbija. According to N1 and Beta, he said Informer received between 500,000 and 700,000 euros a month from the company.
“Let me just note that Informer received between 500,000 and 700,000 euros a month,” Karovic said.
In the opening paragraph of the same Beta report, Nova.rs writes “more than half a million dinars,” while its headline and quote give euros. The other reports mention only euros.
The student movement, he said, is demanding the immediate removal of Telekom Srbija’s director general, Vladimir Lucic. Karovic claims Telekom is trying to shut down or weaken the weekly Radar.
“Telekom is trying to shut down certain media outlets or push them aside and weaken their role,” Karovic said.
He also said some media outlets received money for series that were never filmed, which he called money laundering and corruption. The statements as reported contain no evidence for these claims, and in the reports we reviewed Telekom Srbija has not responded.
Karovic speaks as a representative of a list that, according to Nedeljnik, won a majority in the snap elections, and we reported earlier on the break-in at the TV Informer newsroom. The outgoing government, in his words, still holds the technical levers of power.
