DUSHANBE, April 11, Asia-Plus – TojikSodirotBonk (TSB) and AgroInvestBonk have signed a loan agreement for $500,000. Under this agreement, TSB provides the loan to AgroInvestBonk for offering micro loans in remote mountain areas of the country.
According to TSB, such a decision was made at a meeting of the bank director’s board in late March. “Our bank does not have its branches in remote mountain areas, while AgroInvestBonk has 57 branches across the country,” said the source at TSB, “By providing this loan TSB plans to expand its microlending operation into the remote mountain areas of the country.”
“A government session held at the end of last year set tasks for development of microcrediting in the country and our bank has projected a plan of actions to develop TSB’s activity and set a schedule of meetings with residents of the remote mountain areas to explain them a process of providing micro loans,” said the source, “Such meetings have already been held in Shuroobod, Shahriston, Vanj, and Darvoz.”
The loan has been provided to AgroInvestBonk for one year and it cannot be ruled out that another loan agreement may be concluded between the banks in the case of necessity, the source said.
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 TojikSodirotBonk or TSB.
Headquartered in Dushanbe, TSB has 9 branches in the main cities of Tajikistan and covering all regions of the country. Its clients include the biggest Tajik trading companies, other enterprises, entrepreneurs, and some of the embassies and diplomatic organizations based in Dushanbe.
