DUSHANBE, October 29, 2009, Asia-Plus — The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has become shareholder in Agroinvestbonk, the second largest commercial bank in Tajikistan, having acquired a stake of 25 percent + 1 share in the Tajik bank for 50 million somoni.
According to Agroinvestbonk’s head office in Dushanbe, the EBRD invested 11.5 million U.S. (equivalent to 50 million somoni) dollars in the bank’s capital stock on October 28.
The EBRD’s investment will strengthen the capital base of Agroinvestbonk and will support its growth and further development, the source said. This will also enable the bank to increase its provision of loans to local enterprises.
The EBRD’s equity investment increased Agroinvestbonk’s capital stock to 178.3 million somoni.
We will recall that an appropriate agreement on the EBRD’s equity investment in Agroinvestbonk was signed in Dushanbe on August 12, 2009.
Agroinvestbonk and the EBRD have been working together since 2005 when the bank was included in the EBRD Tajik Micro and Small Enterprise Framework and subsequently joined EBRD Trade Facilitation Program. In 2008, Agroinvestbonk also joined the EBRD Tajik Agricultural Finance Framework.
Founded in 1992, Agroinvestbonk, with headquarters in Dushanbe, has main branches in Khorog, Khujand, Kulob and Qurghon Teppa and 61 other branches across the republic. Agroinvestbonk is one of the leading providers of finance to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and the agricultural sector in Tajikistan.
