DUSHANBE, December 4, Asia-Plus – AgroInvestBonk jointly with Russia’s RUSSLAVBANK will provide travel credits to Tajik labor migrants, Samandar Haidarov, the head of the retail crediting department of the AgroInvestBonk, said in an interview with Asia-Plus.
According to him, AgroInvestBonk launched a ‘travel loan’ service in the beginning of this year. “But our bank has already used its resources on providing this type of loans,” Haidarov said. An agreement between AgroInvestBonk and RUSSLAVBANK on allocation of 2 million U.S. dollars for providing the travel loans was signed in April this year. The loans will be provided to labor migrants staring from the next year.
“The travel loan of US$500 is repayable over six months and carries an annual interest rate of 30 percent,” said Haidarov, “In case of delays in repaying the loan the annual interest rate increases to 37.5 percent.”
Haidarov added that recipient may also repay the loan at one of branches of RUSSLAVBANK in the Russian Federation through the money transfer system CONTACT.
“This year, 1,224 Tajik citizens have received the travel loans,” the AgroInvestBonk official said, adding that RUSSLAVBANK plans to increase an amount of funds allocated for providing the travel loans.
RUSSLAVBANK has worked on the market of financial services since 1990. The International money transfers and payments system CONTACT created by the bank dynamically develops. The transactions volume in 2005 has exceeded 900 million dollars, and during the period from March, 2005 till March, 2006 this parameter has reached 1 billion dollars
Founded in 1992, AgroInvestBonk, with headquarters in Dushanbe, has main branches in Khorog, Khujand, Kulob and Qurghon Teppa and 57 other branches across the republic. As of November 1, AgroInvestBonk’s regulative capital has amounted to 47.1 million somonis (equivalent to more than US$13 million). The bank’s share issued capital includes 210,000 shares, valued at 21 million somonis. The face value of one share is 100 somonis.
