IFC agrees $35m pre-privatization loan to Ipoteka-bank

The International Finance Corporation is providing a pre-privatization loan of up to $35 million equivalent in Uzbek Soum to Ipoteka-bank to expand its financing to small and medium-sized enterprises in Uzbekistan. 

The financing will also help the state-owned bank transform into a commercially viable private bank. Uzbekistan recently announced that it would sell its shares in state-owned banks to investors as part of a drive to transform the country's financial sector. Currently, state-owned banks dominate Uzbekistan’s banking sector; five of the country’s 30 banks are fully owned by the state, and a further eight are 50 percent state-owned.