Uzbek bank sector heavyweights join Tashkent City project
By Trend
Major banks of Uzbekistan, Asaka Bank, O’zsanoatqurilishbank (also known as Uzpromstroybank) and Aloqa Bank, have become investors of the Tashkent City International Business Center (IBC), the directorate of the largest urban development project in Uzbekistan told Trend on Oct. 16.
By the end of 2021, banks will transfer head offices to the territory of the IBC. The banks will provide financing for building the 26, 33 and 28-floor headquarters. The construction will be carried out by China’s Shanghai Construction Group, which holds 16th place in the world in terms of assets.
“All preliminary agreements on cooperation with the Chinese company have already been achieved. The banks have already submitted a detailed concept design of high-rise structures to the directorate of the IBC,” Tashkent City directorate said.
According to the concept-designs, all four buildings will have a single underground parking. Preliminary cost of each building will be roughly $80 million.
Construction work is expected to begin in the 1H2019. Project work is currently underway.
Asaka Bank, O’zsanoatqurilishbank and Aloqa Bank are among the largest banks in Uzbekistan with a state share and their total assets (over $7.13 trillion) account for 30.1 percent of the country’s banking sector.
All of them, according to the decision of the administrative board of the Tashkent City, are investors of the Lot No. 6 together with the specialized construction company from South Korea Bomi Engineering & Construction Co Ltd.
Asaka Bank was established in 1995. The bank’s shareholders are the Finance Ministry, Uzavtosanoat carmaker, the Fund for Reconstruction and Development, the Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Combine, the Bukhara Oil Refinery, the Uzbek Railways and others.
O’zsanoatqurilishbank was founded in 1922 as the Industrial Bank. In 1991 the bank was transformed into a joint-stock commercial bank. In 2009, the name was changed to Uzbek Industrial and Construction Open Joint-Stock Commercial Bank (O’zsanoatqurilishbank OJSCB). Among the shareholders are the Finance Ministry, the Fund for Reconstruction and Development.