Chinese Railway Corporation Junan is expected to acquire a controlling stake in a troubled bank in Tajikistan. The Chinese company can invest some 200 million U.S. dollars in the Dushanbe-based lender, Tojiksodirotbonk (TSB).
An official source at TSB says an appropriate preliminary deal for the Chinese Railway Corporation to acquire a 70 percent stake in TSB has already been signed.
“Chinese investors are currently studying the opportunities of acquiring stake in TSB,” said the source. “They are expected to invest some 200 million U.S. dollars in the bank, while TSB’s current capital is little more than 300 million U.S. dollars.”
He further noted that the bank was conducting negotiations with some other possible investors as well. “Among them are Russia’s VTB and savings bank, Kazakhstan’s Kazkommertzbank, as well as business structures from Hong Kong, Malaysia and Slovakia,” the source added.
Recall, Saudi Investment Group (SIG) has also agreed to buy a controlling stake in TSB. The deal for SIG to acquire a 51-percent stake in TSB was agreed in principal in May this year. The preliminary agreement was signed here on May 11 during a visit of a group of Saudi entrepreneurs to Dushanbe to get acquainted with opportunities of investing in Tajikistan’s economy. The document was inked by TSB head Tojiddin Pirzoda and SIG top manager Al-Waleed Al-Dahash Al-Twaijry.
Tojiksodirotbonk (TSB), which has been experiencing liquidity issues since 2015. Parliament in December 2016 approved a government decree to issue bonds to recapitalize TSB and three other commercial banks. TSB received 2.25 billion somoni.
The government now owns 85.9 percent of the shares in Tojiksodirotbonk. Before that, 58.89 percent of TSB’s shares had been owned by Closed Joint-Stock Company (CJSC) Evraziya (Eurasia), 11.65 percent by Melodiyon LTD, 10.99 percent by Ehson LTD, 7.38 percent by Media Plyus (Plus) LTD and 1.11 percent by Vostok LTD.
As of May 1, 2018, Assets on TSB’s books reportedly include the bank headquarters in Dushanbe, 43 branches across the country, Closed Joint Stock Company (CJSC) Dushanbe Mall (Tajikistan’s largest shopping mall, which is home to the country's first ever hypermarket to be part of the French Auchan chain), Tajikistan Hotel in Dushanbe, eight nine-story apartment buildings in Danghara district (Khatlon province), spinning mills in Danghara and Farkhor districts (Khatlon province), cotton ginneries in Khatlon province, and auto-repair enterprise.
TSB was established in December 1990 as the Tajik branch of the Vnesh Econom Bank of the former Soviet Union, and it initially specialized in trade and import-export banking. Later this branch was reorganized into a Joint-Stock Commercial Bank “Tajikvnesheconombank”. In June 1999 the bank was renamed and registered as Tojik Sodirot Bonk or TSB.
Headquartered in Dushanbe, TSB has 11 branches in the main cities of Tajikistan and covering all regions of the country. .
