Tenge Bank
This new-ish entrant on the scene is already turning heads. It was only in May 2019 that Tenge, a wholly owned subsidiary of Kazakhstan’s Halyk Bank JSC, won a licence from the Central Bank of Uzbekistan. In less than a year, it was fully capitalized and running five branches in three cities.
More important is how chairman Talgat Ayupov’s plans for Tenge dovetail with Uzbek president Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s proposed reforms. “The mission of Tenge Bank,” Ayupov says, “is to provide services in Uzbekistan at the level of international standards, thereby ensuring the safety, efficient placement and augmentation of funds of customers and shareholders.”
There’s much to do on that score, and Mirziyoyev’s team should be rooting for Tenge’s success. Tenge is focusing on the growth of exports and imports of goods in those priority sectors of the economy that Tashkent seeks to showcase, such as petroleum, machinery, glass and beverages. So far, Tenge Bank has provided about $100 million of funding for local entrepreneurs. Its retail loan portfolio is just over $10 million, and is set to grow rapidly.
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