The timelines for the sale of state shares in several banks have been postponed again, as indicated by a decree signed by Shavkat Mirziyoyev on December 27, 2024.
The document amends the strategy for reforming the banking system, which was adopted in 2020. These amendments pertain to the privatization timelines for “Alokabank,” “Asakabank,” and “Uzpromstroybank.”
Contracts for the sale of all three assets are planned to be concluded in 2025. Previously, it was intended to sell shares in “Alokabank” and “Asakabank” by the end of 2023, and in “Uzpromstroybank” in 2024.
In April 2019, the president decreed to list a package of shares of “Uzpromstroybank” for an initial public offering (IPO) and “Alokabank” for a secondary public offering (SPO). A year later, in 2020, the head of state approved a phased plan for the sale of state shares in six banks, involving the EBRD and other international organizations in the process.
Currently, an agreement has been reached for the privatization of only one of the credit institutions mentioned in the document. Hungarian OTP Bank signed a contract to purchase 75% of “Ipoteka-bank” at the end of 2022 and finalized the deal six months later. In December 2023, OTP Bank conducted a recapitalization of the new subsidiary bank and initiated negotiations with minority shareholders last summer.
The privatization program approved in 2022 anticipated the start of public trading for shares in “Asakabank” and “Uzpromstroybank” by the end of that year. It also aimed to conduct an IPO for “Alokabank” and other financial institutions. However, in August 2023, the timelines for the sale of shares were postponed.
At that time, Fitch analysts announced an expected delay in the privatization of banks due to the ongoing transformation of business models. Later, the agency noted that the prospects for asset sales could improve with the participation of the EBRD and other international organizations as minority shareholders. S&P also indicated that privatization “will take time.”
Earlier, Spot reported that the shareholders of “Alokabank” would include five citizens.