South Korean investors to buy stakes in three Uzbek banks

TASHKENT (TCA) — Investors from South Korea in 2016 and 2017 will acquire 15-percent stakes in two large joint-stock commercial banks in Uzbekistan — Uzpromstroibank and Asaka Bank, Novosti Uzbekistana news agency reported.

In line with the Uzbek President’s decree of 16 May 2016 “On measures to further expand trade, economic, investment and financial cooperation with the Republic of Korea,” 15 percent of the charter capital of Uzpromstroibank was estimated at $63.6 million and of Asaka Bank at $58 million.

In addition, agreement was reached to sell to South Korean investors 47.54 percent of the charter capital of Alokabank for $42.7 million.

The agreements were reached during the Uzbek-Korean business forum in Seoul late in April.

According to the Uzbek government plans, in the near future ten commercial banks in Uzbekistan will attract foreign investment into their charter capital.  

In line with the Government decree of 10 February 2016, Asaka Bank, Kishlok Kurilish Bank, Agrobank, Ipoteka Bank, and Microcreditbank have been included in the list of 25 joint stock companies at least 15 percent of whose state-owned share in the charter capital will be sold to foreign investors in 2016.    

According to the Central Bank of Uzbekistan, the country now has 26 commercial banks, including three state-owned, 11 joint-stock commercial, seven private, and five banks with foreign capital.

The latter include Savdogar and Hamkor banks, KDB Bank Uzbekistan, UT Bank (Uzbekistan Turkish Bank), and a subsidiary of Iran’s Saderat bank.

Sergey Kwan

TCA

Sergey Kwan has worked for The Times of Central Asia as a journalist, translator and editor since its foundation in March 1999. Prior to this, from 1996-1997, he worked as a translator at The Kyrgyzstan Chronicle, and from 1997-1999, as a translator at The Central Asian Post.
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Kwan studied at the Bishkek Polytechnic Institute from 1990-1994, before completing his training in print journalism in Denmark.

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