EurasiaNet.org reports that Open Joint-Stock Company (OJSC) Agroinvestbonk has embarked on a desperate fire sale as it tries to scrabble back some much-needed funds to reimburse its long-suffering depositors.
Among the items for sale listed on the Agroinvestbonk website on November 25 are cars, trucks, computers, cash registers, bank-note counters, modems, printers and even ATM machines. The cars for sale include a 2016 series Mercedes-Benz S-Class S500, a costly model bought the very same year in which the bank was going down the tubes.
All the items on sale are sourced from Agroinvestbonk offices that have been closed as part of the cost-cutting drive required under the terms of a government bailout announced in late 2016.
A spokesman for the bank told EurasiaNet.org that the money raised will go toward reimbursing deposit-holders currently unable to access their funds.
Recall, four local commercial banks, including Agroinvestbonk, have been experiencing liquidity issues since 2015. Parliament in December 2016 approved a government decree to issue bonds to recapitalize the mentioned banks and Agroinvestbonk was topped up by 1.7 billion somoni (equivalent to US$215 million).
Agroinvestbonk has reduced its staff by some 800 people in order to improve its activities and it now reportedly employs 524 people.
According to official data, the list of assets of Agroinvestbonk includes more than 730 properties located in various regions of the country, including the bank headquarters in Dushanbe, main branches in Khorog, Khujand, Kulob and Qurghon Teppa, 60 other branches across the country and five service centers. Besides, the bank possesses resort zones in Varzob district, small enterprises, farming units, shopping centers, shops, cafes, drugstores, refueling stations, service stations, warehouses, consumer service centers, and many apartments and residential buildings.
Founded in 1992, Agroinvestbonk, with headquarters in Dushanbe, is now 87.3 percent government-owned as a result of the bailout program. It has main branches in Khorog, Khujand, Kulob and Qurghon Teppa and more than 60 other branches across the republic.
In 2012, the government made a decision on recapitalization of Agroinvestbonk and injected 700 million somoni in the bank. 200 million somoni went to replenishing the bank authorized capital stock and 500 million somoni were assigned for the swap.
