JULY 1 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Shops in Tajikistan larger than 40 square metres will now have to accept payment by both credit cards and bank cards or face a $1,000 fine under regulation passed in 2014 that has now come into force. The imposition of the 2014 rules may be linked to a cash shortage in Tajikistan whichhave caused liquidity problems for its banks.
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(News report from Issue No. 288, published on July 8 2016)
DUSHANBE, JULY 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Tajikistan’s Central Bank said it had placed Tajprombank under its administration because it had nearly run out of cash and also that it had asked the EBRD to step in to advise it on how to support the country’s ailing banking sector.
A banking crisis in Tajikistan, triggered by a recession in Russia and a slowdown in domestic economic activity, has spread.
Tajik media reported that the Central Bank had asked the EBRD directly for technical support and advice to help it smooth out problems in its banking sector. The EBRD has already said it is looking at bailing out Tojiksodirotbank.
It has said that is is considering more support, although it us unclear if this is just advice or also funds.
So far Tojiksodirotbank and now Tajprombank have been placed under the Central Bank’s administration.
A source at the Tajik Central Bank said it had placed Tajprombank under its administration on May 3.
“This decision was taken because Tajprombank had repeatedly violated banking legislation and other regulatory acts laid out by the Central Bank, weakening its financial position and disappointing its creditors,” the source said.
It is unclear why it took the Central Bank two months to acknowledge this.
Agroinvestbank has also been looking increasingly shaky. Last month, customers said they were finding it difficult to withdraw cash from Agroinvestbank’s ATMs.
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(News report from Issue No. 288, published on July 8 2016)
DUSHANBE, JUNE 29 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The sharp economic downturn that dragged Tojiksodirotbank into administration earlier this year is circling another potential Tajik banking victim.
People lining up to use Agroinvestbank ATMs in the capital Dushanbe complained of a shortage of cash and worried that it too was going to be placed under the Central Bank’s administration. A company spokesperson denied this.
Ozod, a 42-years-old driver, said he had checked several ATMs across the city to try to find some cash.
“None of them had money,” he said. “I called the bank and they told me to check this one, as they said they had put some money in it. Now, I am waiting here and I hope I can withdraw some money to buy groceries before the Ramadan holiday.”
Nigora, a 34-year-old employee of one of Dushanbe’s many international NGOs, said that she had lost trust in Tajik banks.
“We had Tojiksodirotbank and now this,” she said. “I want to change my bank but I don’t know which one I should choose because I don’t trust the banks anymore.”
In May, Tojiksodirotbank said it had run out of cash and asked the Central Bank to put it under its administration. It also started talks to sell a stake to the EBRD. Last year the IMF said a drop in the value of the somoni and a fall in remittances being sent from Russia had undermined the economy and threatened the banking sector’s liquidity.
An Agroinvestbank employee denied rumours the bank was facing bankruptcy. Instead she said that a religious holiday was pressuring the bank’s resources. “People need more money ahead of Ramadan and that’s why cash is drying up,” she said.
The Conway Bulletin’s Tajikistan correspondent toured Agroinvestbank ATMs in Dushanbe. Most were empty, some were able to give up to $25 and others ran out of cash midway through delivering it.
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(News report from Issue No. 287, published on July 1 2016)
JUNE 29 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Kyrgyz Parliament approved the sale of a 15.4% stake in BTA Bank Kyrgyzstan to Kazakh investors. The stake previously belonged to Daniyar Usenov, former Kyrgyz PM, who fled the country after a revolution in 2010 toppled President Kurmanbek Bakiyev. The new Kyrgyz government took possession of his stake in BTA and sentenced him to 15 years in prison for abuse of power in 2013.
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(News report from Issue No. 287, published on July 1 2016)
JUNE 21 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – UnionPay International, the global branch of Chinese bank organisation UnionPay, said it will expand its operations in Uzbekistan, through an agreement with UzCard, an interbank payment system. The company, which operates in all Central Asian countries except Turkmenistan, is looking to expand its coverage at ATMs and card payments across the region.
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(News report from Issue No. 286, published on June 24 2016)
JUNE 16 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Pasha Bank, one of the largest banks in Azerbaijan, said it will launch a $200m Eurobond issue in the second half of the year. The bank expects yields of around 5%, Ivan Uglyanitsa, head of investment banking, told Reuters. Azerbaijan’s sovereign debt gives a yield of around 3.5% currently.
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(News report from Issue No. 285, published on June 17 2016)
JUNE 10 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tojiksodirotbonk, Tajikistan’s second largest lender, said it resumed money transfer transactions, and that it continued to operate under the administration of the Central Bank. TSB, as it is commonly known, is awaiting confirmation from the EBRD for a funding lifeline of around $165m. The investment would give the EBRD a 25% stake in the bank.
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(News report from Issue No. 285, published on June 17 2016)
JUNE 14 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan and Iran will launch their first joint bank next year, the countries’ central bankers told media. Elman Rustamov, Azerbaijan’s Central Bank chief, visited his Iranian counterpart Valiollah Seif in Tehran. Both laid the groundwork for the establishment of a new bank, a sign of the growing cooperation in the financial sector.
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(News report from Issue No. 285, published on June 17 2016)
JUNE 16 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tsesnabank, one of the largest banks in Kazakhstan, completed its takeover of Russian Plus Bank by buying a 14.7% stake from UAE based Linex Global. Tsesnabank, which had bought a controlling stake in Plus Bank in January, now owns 99% of the bank. Adilbek Dzhaksybekov, mayor of Astana, owns Tsesnabank.
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(News report from Issue No. 285, published on June 17 2016)
JUNE 8 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — ALWA, a German plastics manufacturer, bought a 15% stake in Orient Finance Bank, an Uzbekistan-based lender, for 9.3b sum ($3.2m), news agency Trend reported. The bank was able to sell the stake by increasing its capitalisation. This is in line with the government policy of selling off stakes in state-owned or state-participated assets.
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(News report from Issue No. 284, published on June 10 2016)
