Kazakhstan's ForteBank appoints new CEO for newly acquired subsidiary Home Credit Bank
ASTANA. Dec 11 (Interfax) - Kazakhstan's ForteBank has appointed Sholpan Nurumbet the new CEO of its recently acquired subsidiary, Home Credit Bank, the Home Credit press service reported.
Nurumbet will succeed Kirill Bachvarov, head of the bank since 2022, who will become the bank's integration advisor. The appointment will come into effect once approved by Kazakhstan's national financial regulator.
Nurumbet has over 20 years of experience working in Kazakhstan's financial sector. Over the years, she has held senior positions in major banks such as Kassa Nova, Alliance Bank and ForteBank, working as the deputy CEO of the latter from January 2021 to January 2022.
ForteBank, international financial group PPF and PPF CEO Jiri Smejc signed the agreement to sell 100% of shares in Home Credit Bank in June. According to the plans, Home Credit Bank will operate as an independent subsidiary at the first stage, and will be gradually integrated into ForteBank within roughly one year. The shares will be purchased gradually: as of September 18, ForteBank became the owner of 26.8%, and this increased to 75% in November, with Home Credit Bank thus receiving the status of a ForteBank subsidiary.
ForteBank's majority shareholder is Kazakh businessman Bulat Utemuratov, who holds a 90.92% stake. As of early November 2025, ForteBank ranks as the country's fifth-largest bank by assets, out of 23.
Home Credit Bank has been operating in Kazakhstan since 2005, with 58 branches and 146 micro-offices in 18 Kazakh cities. In March 2025, international rating agency Fitch Ratings confirmed the bank's Long-Term Foreign and Local Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at "BB-", with a "stable" outlook. As of November 1, 2025, it ranks 13th among Kazakhstan's 23 banks.
PPF Group, which operates in 24 countries, invests in the financial sector, telecommunications, media, e-commerce, biotechnology, real estate and transport engineering. The group's assets are worth 43.5 billion euros.
