Sanoat Qurilish Bank
SQB, as state-owned Sanoat Qurilish Bank is better known, is coming up to its centenary. Established in 1922, it has, over time, become a premier player in the whole gamut of banking in Uzbekistan: state, corporate and retail lending; deposit-taking; cash-handling; international transfers; letters of credit; and foreign-exchange operations.
Its trajectory closely tracks the nation’s. After Uzbekistan declared independence in 1991, SQB became a joint-stock commercial bank. It has grown bigger and stronger. In 2018, it began the transformation that led to it winning our best domestic bank honours yet again, with help from the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation.
Today, it is the go-to institution for sectors including oil, gas and chemicals. It is one of the biggest banks in the country in terms of assets and loans. As of late 2020, SQB’s assets had increased 29% to $4.5 billion from $3.7 billion a year earlier, while return on equity rose to 15%, from 9% in 2019.
Under the watch of its chairman, Sakhi Annaklichev, SQB also managed to achieve strong growth in its core customer segments.