DUSHANBE, May 18, 2016, Asia-Plus – The National Bank of Tajikistan (NBT) has introduced a caretaker administration in Tojik Sodirot Bonk (TSB), which is Tajikistan’s second-largest commercial bank.
The caretaker administration has reportedly been introduced for the purpose of improving the financial situation of this commercial bank.
TSB top manager Tojiddin Pirzoda and his six deputies have been temporarily dismissed and the 34-year-old Mirhayot Yodgorov, who heads one of the NBT directorates, has been appointed to head the caretaker administration.
An official source at Tajik central bank says the appointment of the caretaker administration at TSB was announced on May 18.
According to him, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will invest 165 million U.S. dollars in TSB, and thereby it will become controlling shareholder in TSB. “Besides, the Government of Tajikistan intends to acquire 25 percent of the shares in TSB,” the source stressed. He further added that that issue would be finally solved in June.
We will recall that
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reported on May 11 that TSB has discussed a possible cash injection with officials from EBRD in exchange for a 50 percent equity stake.
TSB chairman Tojiddin Pirzoda told the financial news website that he had already met with EBRD top brass and agreed on an assistance program.
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noted on May 11 that Tajikistan’s banks have been hit hard by the country’s economic problems, much of them linked to declining exports and remittances with Russia, which have left many of the country’s businesses and individuals unable to repay their loans to banks and microfinance institutions.
“Due to worsened macro conditions, performance of many players [has] deteriorated, which is mainly reflected in the growth of impaired loans, reduced profits and capital erosion,” EBRD Director for Financial Institutions in Russia and Central Asia George Orlov told
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.
As it had been reported earlier, panic was spreading among customers at TSB in March. Customers were signing up to waiting lists in their thousands to withdraw whatever money they could.
NBT announced in March it was in talks with EBRD over the state of the banking system. Particular attention was devoted to the role of banks deemed crucial to Tajikistan’s economy, including TSB.
On March 14, TSB issued a statement that attributed interruptions in its services to a switchover in its money-processing system. “Short-term disruptions in the functioning of bank cards are possible. We apologize for the inconvenience,” the statement 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 Tojik Sodirot Bonk or TSB.
Headquartered in Dushanbe, TSB has 12 branches in the main cities of Tajikistan and covering all regions of the country.
