At the request of several Adriatic Bank clients, the High Court in Podgorica has annulled the measures to block transactions worth 54,3 million euros requested by the prosecution due to investigations it has been conducting since 2024, "Vijesti" has learned.
The Bank's audit report, which was published on the Central Bank's website, stated that the money is now available to clients.
"On February 24, 2026, the decision of the competent court lifted the temporary suspension of the payment of funds for most of the Bank's clients who were covered by the measure of state authorities, thus releasing funds in the total amount of 54,3 million euros and making them available to clients," stated the audit report of Adriatic Bank on the financial statements for 2025, in the section "events after the balance sheet date".
In 2024, the Central Bank imposed fines of 3,6 million euros on Adriatic Bank for violating the Law on the Prevention of Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism, while through other measures, money was blocked in several accounts of its clients at the request of the prosecutor's office. After that, Adriatic Bank initiated two court disputes over the imposition of fines and three misdemeanor proceedings initiated against them by the Central Bank. While the clients initiated proceedings to annul the prosecutor's measures to block their money in Adriatic Bank accounts.
The audit report also stated that one hearing was held for the court proceedings challenging two misdemeanor proceedings of the Central Bank, and that no hearing was held for the other court proceedings challenging one misdemeanor order.
According to published financial reports, Adriatic Banka suffered significant damage due to measures taken by the prosecutor's office and the Central Bank.
An interlocutor of "Vijesti" from the banking sector, familiar with this case, said that losing the dispute before domestic courts, and possible international arbitration, would mean great financial damage for the Central Bank and the state, but would also jeopardize the reputation of Montenegrin institutions.
"Adriatic Bank suffered great damage due to the imposition of fines and other measures, as can be seen from the business report for 2025. They achieved a net profit of 268 thousand euros, while in 2024 it was 13 million, and in 2023 it was 15,7 million. That is, after the CBCG measures, the bank's profit was reduced by 97 percent. It can also be seen that client deposits at the end of 2025 amounted to 249 million euros, while in 2024 they were 428 million, or they fell by 41 percent. Serious measures were also imposed against the bank's management board members, who also, in the event that the CBCG loses these disputes, can seek compensation for direct financial damage and damaged personal reputation. It is up to the Central Bank to prove that the measures were adopted in a lawful manner or that institution and the state will pay large compensation to the bank, clients, and management board members...", said the interlocutor of "Vijesti".
The Adriatic Bank audit report for 2025 does not provide an estimate of the possibility of winning the dispute, while the report for 2024 stated that the bank's management estimates that it has a 50 percent chance of winning this dispute against the Central Bank.
The first dispute initiated by Adriatic Banka concerns the annulment of measures and penalties imposed by the Central Bank, which relate to the bank's failure to submit data on open transaction accounts to the CBM, i.e. its register, that the glossary of payment services does not include the concept and definitions of the service "notification via means of remote communication (e.g. SMS)", that the fees associated with the payment account, i.e. the failure to submit the decision on the adoption of the CBM tariffs within three days, that on 22 July 2024, an information document on fees associated with transaction accounts for resident consumers was not available at the bank's business premises - branch. According to the CBM, Adriatic Banka thereby violated the Payment Transactions Act, the Law on the Comparability of Fees, and the Decision on Determining the Most Representative Services Associated with a Consumer Payment Account. One hearing was held for this dispute.
The second legal dispute initiated by Adriatic Banka before the domestic court concerns the annulment of a misdemeanor order that the Bank received from the Central Bank for providing services to a client affiliated with a credit institution on terms that are more favorable than the terms under which it provides such services to other persons and/or using the services of persons affiliated with the credit institution on terms that are less favorable than the terms under which other persons would provide such services to the credit institution. The Bank contested this misdemeanor order. No hearing was held.
Adriatic Bank previously announced that they could not discuss in detail the reasons why the prosecutor's office took over certain documentation about the bank's operations, emphasizing that they had hired "world-renowned experts" for business compliance...
CBCG: The annulled measures do not apply to us
The Central Bank told "Vijesti" that they did not request the blocking of money from Adriatic Bank clients.
"Any temporary measures of security, blocking or restrictions on the disposal of funds in specific court or prosecutorial proceedings are not within the competence of the Central Bank of Montenegro, but of the authorities conducting these proceedings. Accordingly, for information relating to specific court, prosecutorial or other proceedings, you should contact the competent authorities," said Vice Governor Milan Remiković.
At the end of 2024, the Special Police Department (SPO) seized some of the documentation on the transactions of her clients that they found suspicious due to alleged business and economic ties with the Russian Federation.
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