Baiterek Holding starts search for investors in ex-subsidiary of Sberbank in Kazakhstan

ASTANA. March 29 (Interfax) - Baiterek Holding will start looking for investors to purchase shares of Bereke Bank, the former subsidiary of Sberbank in Kazakhstan, Madina Abylkassymova, chairman of the Agency for Financial Market Regulation and Development, said.

"The situation is as follows: on March 8, we removed it from the SDN list. It's performance is good now, and capital adequacy is already at 10%. Now Baiterek, which is a shareholder of the bank, will start looking for investors to whom it can sell shares of Bereke Bank," Abylkassymova said to reporters on Wednesday.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), investors from the UAE, Qatar and Georgian banks have shown interest, she said.

Kazakhstani subsidiaries of VTB , Alfa-Bank and Sberbank fell under US blocking sanctions in March 2022.

In early September 2022, the Baiterek holding and Sberbank closed a sale and purchase deal for Sberbank Kazakhstan. Later, the former Sberbank subsidiary was renamed Bereke Bank. The bank will continue to fulfill all obligations to its customers, and all conditions for banking products for existing customers will remain unchanged.

According to the National Bank of Kazakhstan, as of February 1, 2023, Bereke Bank ranks 9th in terms of assets among 21 banks in the country.