Monitoring press

01.09.2010
Kazakh bank BTA eyes portfolio growth, profit
ALMATY, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Kazakh bank BTA, fresh from a restructuring that slashed its debt by two thirds, aims to grow its loan portfolio by 10 percent annually until 2014 and forecasts a net profit in excess of $100 million next year.

05.08.2010
IFR: BTA Sets out Post Restructuring Plans - Sandrine Bradley
As the restructuring of Kazakhstan’s BTA Bank enters its final phase, chairman Anvar Saidenov has set out the bank’s post-restructuring plans and has predicted that it will remain in the hands of state fund Samruk-Kazyna for the foreseeable future.

05.08.2010
INTERVIEW: BTA Back from Brink but Still has Legacy Issues
With its $11bn debt restructuring agreed, BTA Bank, once Kazakhstan's largest lender, is set to resume its position as a serious competitive force within the sector.

09.05.2009
Battered and bruised but ready to move forward
BTA Bank has been at the centre of a financial storm involving a state bailout, Kazakhstan’s real estate crash and rotating central bank governors. However the tools to stabilise the situation now appear to be in place.

17.04.2009
BTA dismisses default talk as Alliance falls
The chief executive of Kazakhstan’s BTA Bank, Anvar Saidenov, this week insisted creditors had not demanded early repayment of their debt and that he was confident of his bank’s access to liquidity. Separately, its rival, Alliance Bank, announced that it was seeking a standstill agreement from its creditors.

01.03.2009
State moves to stabilise Kazakh banking sector
The Kazakhstan government has now moved to control a significant portion of the countries major banks in an effort to stabilise the banking system. The state holding company Samruk-Kazyna, via its investment fund, the Samruk-Kazyna National Welfare Fund has now taken stakes in the country’s top four banks and has begun to appoint Samruk-Kazyna executives to the boards of directors of the banks.

06.10.2008
"Financial Crisis but, Opportunity for Expansion" BTA Chairman Solodchenko
"The world economy is now experiencing unseen financial crisis triggered by Wall Street. But, it is an opportunity for business expansion at the same time"

26.09.2008
Kazakhstan plans $6bn distressed loan fund
Fresh concerns about the stability of the Kazakh banking system emerged this week after the government unveiled a $6bn package to buy distressed loans from the country's banks.

25.09.2008
Kazakhstan plans for bailout fund - Government seeks to raise $6 billion to rescue bad loans
The Kazakhstan government is planning to raise a $6 billion fund to rescue distressed domestic loans from the balance sheets of Kazakh banks, in a move mimicking the U.S. Treasury's plan to prop up the banking sector by purging troubled assets from the financial system.

24.09.2008
Kazakhstan plans $6 bln bad loan buyout fund
ALMATY, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Kazakhstan will set up a $6 billion distressed asset fund this year to buy up bad loans from its banks and help the sector cope with the global credit crisis, the finance minister said on Wednesday.

17.09.2008
Kazakhstan report '08
The country is not just well endowed with oil; it is also rich in commodities, from grain to uranium. ( By Clare Nuttall)

16.09.2008
The boys are back in town
Joint Stock Company Halyk Savings Bank of Kazakhstan came to the market in late August with a $200m syndicated term loan facility, which according to market watchers was oversubscribed. The facility will be used for general financing purposes, including mainly trade finance business underwritten by Halyk Bank. In reality though, the deal signifies so much more. After a prolonged period in the financial wilderness, issuers have been testing investor appetite for Kazakh risk since April, with success. Is it now time for Kazakh issuers to come into their own once more?

29.08.2008
State takes the lead in Kazakh banking sector
Kazakhstan’s beleaguered banking sector is getting back on its feet,thanks to increased activity by state banks, and growing levels of FDI,report Shayla Walmsley and Julian Evans

30.07.2008
BTA makes trade finance a top priority
Kazakhstan bank BTA's chairman of the board of directors Mukhtar Ablyazov today addressed questions concerning the official rebranding of the bank, formerly known as Bank TuranAlem, and announced ambitions for the bank to expand to eventually become a global banking institution.

29.07.2008
Kazakhstan searches for pain relief
Georgy Iosifyan, the newest member of the management board at BTA Bank (formerly Bank TuranAlem) after joining from Russia’s Alfa-Bank in February, is hobbling after an accident in the gym. It might almost be a metaphor for Kazakhstan’s banking sector. Previously pumped up by the anticipation of oil and gas revenues, even some of the country’s largest banks are now struggling to refinance international debts after global liquidity dried up last year, and are beset by rumours and fears about asset quality.

14.07.2008
Chairman of BTA Bank CJSC Marenov Awarded for Contribution to Development of Financial Market of Belarus
Chairman of the Management Board of BTA Bank Sultan Marenov has been praised for efforts to bolster the financial market of Belarus. Delo Vostok + Zapad (Business: East + West) magazine awarded Mr Marenov as "Man of Action – 2008" in the category "Significant Contribution to the Development of the Financial Market of Belarus."

09.07.2008
View from the banks. Anthony Robinson meets Roman Solodchenko, chairman of BTA Bank
After its re-branding this year as BTA Bank, the former Bank TuranAlem no longer holds in its title the memory of its foundation over a decade ago as a merger between the privatised former Soviet-era Construction Bank and the Foreign Trade Bank.

02.07.2008
Kazakhstan's BTA Bk IPO Probably Pushed Back To 2010-Chmn
LONDON (Dow Jones)--BTA Bank's (BTAS.KZ) chairman Wednesday said Kazakhstan's biggest bank by assets would hold off on an initial public offering until market conditions improved.

02.07.2008
BTA Bank Chmn: Temirbank Tender Underway
LONDON (Dow Jones)--BTA Bank (BTAS.KZ) chairman Mukhtar Ablyazov Wednesday said Kazakhstan's biggest bank by assets had received "quite attractive" offers for its Temirbank subsidiary.

17.04.2008
CIS Courts rich Asian investors
When Kazakhstan banks faced liquidity problems in the latter half of 2007, some looked to the east, to Korea and Hong Kong, for a strategic investor. And borrowers in the CIS are also forging stronger ties with Middle Eastern investors. But the relationships don’t stop at capital provision. Julian Evans reports on a shift in power eastward.