Electric power industry of Serbia she is persistently silent about why she chose Alta Bank that the citizens of Belgrade have been paying for electricity in it since June. And why didn't it, like in the rest of Serbia, cooperate with the state-owned Poštanska štedionica.
The bank of Davor Macure (43), a relatively unknown businessman close to the SNS, made deals with EPS, the Belgrade Parking Service, and travel insurance with AMSS will also be paid through it.
In the new issue, which is on newsstands from Thursday (July 23), "Vreme" investigates this business in which people from the banking sector see "progressive slander".
Davor Matsura's new plans: Brokerage department and share trading abroad
How good is Macura?
Admittedly, with a statement, EPS quickly opposed the calculation of government critics, according to which Alta banka would charge a commission of 0,5 percent of the account amount or a minimum of 50 dinars per transaction. That calculation probably comes from the official price list of the bank itself.
"We emphasize that the commissions that customers pay to their banks, the Post Office or other financial institutions when they pay electricity bills, will not and cannot go to the benefit of the banks with which EPS operates, including Alta Bank," the announcement states, adding that all criticism is "political."
However, EPS did not provide the public with an account of how, why and under what conditions it started receiving payments in Belgrade through an account in Alta Bank. That leaves only guesses about possible earnings.
It is known that there are about 870.000 households in Belgrade. Calculating the average consumption, the citizens of Belgrade pay about 30 million euros per month for electricity, and it will be more because the price of electricity will rise by at least seven percent from October - the sixth price increase in four years. It is not clear exactly how much of that will remain in Alta Bank.
Connoisseurs of opportunities believe that next year the bank could earn as much from the EPS business alone as it had in 2024 in total net profit.
EPS owes explanations
For Nemanja Nenadić from Transparency of Serbia, it is not so controversial that the bank that is only in 11th place in terms of financial indicators in Serbia got the job, but it is the fact that the citizens do not have an answer to the question - why exactly it was chosen for such a big and important job.
"Before we just received a new account to which we need to pay money, EPS had to explain to us what conditions they received, so they actually went to Alta, as well as what happened at the public invitation, whether there was one, and what were the offers of other banks," Nenadić told "Vreme".
"These are all factors that cast doubt on whether the decision of EPS and other companies was purely business," he concludes.
Read the entire research in the new "Vremen" from Thursday (July 24) or subscribe to printed or digital edition.
