Finance Minister Nina Angelovska withdrew her sizable deposit in the Eurostandard Bank in the first half of the year, as the bank was declining. Angelovska held a total of 250.000 EUR in the bank, way above the 30.000 EUR limit that is protected by the savings fund, and would have likely lost most of it with the collapse of the bank.

The Central Bank rescinded Eurostandard’s licence on Wednesday, shocking the public, as the relatively small bank is linked to the Macedonian Post Office and services and outsized share of the public, especially in small towns. Bank owner Trifun Kostovski said that Eurostandard has been troubled for a year and publicly asked the Central Bank why it waited so long before revoking its licence.

Angelovska’s move drew criticism that she knew about the developing situation and used her inside knowledge to protect her own deposit, while leaving thousands of other investors hooked.
The State Anti-Corruption Commission began an investigation into Angelovska’s actions. By law, the Finance Minister, as all other officials, is mandated to publish her personal financial records, and the public could see that she had the large deposit in Eurostandard Bank, until it dissapeared. In its place, Angelovska, who also operates a Groupon style online business, listed that she bought an apartment in Skopje, which would barely account for half of the money she withdrew from Eurostandard.