Tag Archives: banking

ADB to lend $20m to Uzbekistan’s Hamkorbank

JUNE 4 2021 (The Bulletin) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a deal with Uzbekistan’s Hamkorbank to lend it $20m to improve access to finance for small and medium-sized businesses. Christine Engstrom, the ADB’s Private Sector Financial Institutions Division Director, said that small businesses employ 74% of Uzbekistan’s workforce but were struggling to access capital because of the pandemic, especially those in outlying areas.

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— This story was published in issue 487 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on June 9 2021

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Halyk Bank’s net profit rises

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MARCH 12 (The Bulletin) — Net profit at Kazakhstan’s Halyk bank rose by 5.4% in 2020 to 352.7b tenge ($842m) because of higher income from insurance premiums and earnings on derivatives and securities. Halyk Bank is the largest bank in Kazakhstan and is majority-owned by Dinara Nazarbayeva, the daughter of former president Nursultan Nazarbayev and her husband, Timur Kulibayev. The bank’s performance is considered an important indicator of the state of the Kazakh economy.

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— This story was published in issue 475 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on March 15 2021

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Georgian government support for banks can no longer be relied upon -Fitch

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MARCH 11 (The Bulletin) — In a report on government support for banks in Emerging Markets, Fitch the ratings agency said that Georgia could “no longer be relied upon” to prop up its banks because of legislation that it introduced in Jan. 2021. Georgia introduced bail-in legislation that forces creditors and bondholders of banks to accept more risk.

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— This story was published in issue 475 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on March 15 2021

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Coronavirus hits Georgian banks

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TBILISI/JAN. 21 2021 (The Bulletin) — Profit at Georgia’s 15 commercial banks fell by nearly 90% last year, the Central Bank said, reflecting the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on its economy.

It said that it expected profits at the banks to be 100m lari ($30.3m) in 2020 compared to 950m lari in 2019.

Medical experts praised Georgia for its initial hard and fast response to the coronavirus, although economists also said that this had a tough impact on its economy.

And the assessment of banks’ profit drop was given only a couple of days before Fitch, the ratings agency, downgraded the so-called support ratings of TBC Bank, Bank of Georgia and Liberty Bank to 5 from 4 because their liabilities are now larger than the Central Bank’s reserves.

The support rating is a measure of the ability of the Central Bank to prop up commercial banks, if needed.

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— This story was first published in issue 469 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Azerbaijan commissions new Central Bank HQ

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JAN. 15 2021 (The Bulletin) — In a show of confidence in its Central Bank which was derided by ordinary Azerbaijanis six years ago for allowing the manat to devalue twice in 12 months, Azerbaijan’s government commissioned the construction of a new $265m and 37-storey headquarters for it. Building work, by Turkish construction company Tekfen, is expected to take three years.

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— This story was first published in issue 469 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Bank opens ATM in Nagorno-Karabakh

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DEC. 27 2020 (The Bulletin) — In a move heavily infused with symbolism, state-owned International Bank of Azerbaijan opened its first cash machine in Shusha, the largest town taken by Azerbaijani forces from Armenia during a six-week war for control of the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh that ended in November. Azerbaijani business has rushed to follow soldiers and open up operations in the region.

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— This story was first published in issue 467 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021

Armenian banks improve profits despite coronavirus

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JULY 28 (The Bulletin) — Banks in Armenia increased their net profit in the first half of the year by 5.9%, media reported by quoting a banking lobby group. It said that despite the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, which analysts said would cause a recession in Armenia, all 17 banks in the country had been profitable so far in 2020.

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— This story was published in issue 455 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on July 31 2020.

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020

Georgia’s TBC Bank launches online bank in Uzbekistan

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JULY 24 (The Bulletin) — Georgia’s TBC Bank launched its digital subsidiary bank in Uzbekistan. TBC, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange, has branded the bank as the first fully online bank in Uzbekistan. It has followed Kazakhstan’s Halyk Bank in setting up a subsidiary in Uzbekistan but while Halyk Bank has said it is targeting lending out to businesses, TBC has said that it is targeting ordinary people.

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— This story was published in issue 455 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on July 31 2020.

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020

More loans given to support SMEs in Uzbekistan

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JUNE 23 (The Bulletin) — The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) approved another loan of $40 million to UzPromstroybank to be lent out to SMEs that need support to survive the impact of an anti-coronavirus lockdown. Like other international financial institutions, the EBRD has increased lending to Uzbekistan to help it deal with the coronavirus. The International Finance Corporation, part of the World Bank, also gave a second Uzbek bank, Ipoteka-Bank, a loan of $35m.

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— This story was first published in issue 451 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, published on June 23 2020

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020

Kazakhstan’s Halyk Bank to debate dividend payout

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JUNE 23 (The Bulletin) — Shareholders of Halyk Bank, the largest bank in Kazakhstan, will vote on July 23 on whether to pay out the second of two planned dividend payments in 2020 because of the impact of the coronavirus on business. In May, Halyk Bank, which is majority-owned by Dinara Nazarbayeva and her husband Timur Kulibayev, voted to scrap its dividend. Ms Nazabayeva is the daughter of former president Nursultan Nazarbayev.

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— This story was first published in issue 451 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, published on June 23 2020