DUSHANBE, June 12, Asia-Plus – Open joint-stock company Bank Eskhata, Tajik commercial bank headquartered in Khujand, and Belgian bank, VDK Spaarbank N.V., have signed a loan agreement for $1 million, Asia-Plus has learned from Masrourkhon Ishonov, a leading economist with the Bank Eskhata department for work with financial institutions and documentary operations.
According to him, Bank Eskhata has attracted foreign loans for a total amount of $2 million since the beginning of the year. “All these funds are being used for crediting the bank’s customers,” Ishonov said, adding that Eskhata Bank also plans to conclude loan agreements with Deutsche Bank (Germany), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and other financial institutions this year.
Established in November 1993, a privately owned Eskhata Bank, with headquarters in Khujand, has eight branches in various regions of the country. The bank got operating license in 1994. In December 2005, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) took equity in Eskhata Bank that allowed Eskhata to continue to comply with the National Bank of Tajikistan’s minimum capital requirements, which have been revised upwards to $5 million. As of May 1, 2007, a regulative capital of Eskhata Bank has amounted to 23.1 million somonis.
