DUSHANBE, December 5, Asia-Plus – The Kazakhstan Investment Fund will invest in the reconstruction of the Adrasman Ore refinery in northern Tajikistan via the Khujand-based SohibkorBonk, which will become an affiliate of Kazakhstan’s ATFBank.
We will recall that Kazakhstan’s commercial bank ATFBank and SohibkorBonk have concluded an agreement this year for ATFBank to purchase a 75 percent stake in SohibkorBonk. SohibkorBonk head Jamshed Qavmiddinov said, “ATFBank has to date purchased 11.8 percent of shares of SohibkorBonk.”
According to him, the Kazakhstan Investment Fund will invest in the reconstruction of the Adrasman Ore Refinery, privatized by its main partner, KazInvestMineral, this year, via SohibkorBonk.
The Kazakhstan Investment Fund is a state institute for the development of Kazakhstan. The fund”s activities began in July 2003. It is a joint stock company in which the government holds 100% of the shares. The authorized capital is more than US$ 300 million, with step-by-step increases planned to establish competitive industries in the non-primary sector of the economy.
The Adrasman Ore Refinery was established in 1967 and specializes in the production of lead ore and the processing of raw materials for lead-silver concentrate. After the reconstruction, the capacity of plant will be 650,000 tons of lead ore per year.
KazInvestMineral purchased the Adrasman Ore Refinery in July this year for 12 million somonis (equivalent to more than US$3.5 million). The plant was put up for sale for 11 million somonis, because its technology is obsolete and demands urgent replacement. KazInvestMineral is expected to spend at least 15 million US dollars for the reconstruction of the plant and update its technology and equipment.
Founded in 1995, ATFBank is a leading Kazakh bank, which has developed into a powerful financial group. It offers a broad spectrum of financial products, including services in leasing and insurance. ATFBank opened an office in Moscow in the Russian Federation and has subsidiary banks in Kyrgyzstan and Russia.
SohibkorBonk was established in the northern city of Khujand in 1999 and is among the six largest banks of Tajikistan. The bank has 11 branches throughout the country and capital of little more than US $5 million.
