AKIPRESS.COM - Uzbekistan Industrial and Construction Bank (SQB) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) signed a mandate letter within the framework of the Economic Forum of Uzbekistan, held in Samarkand on November 3-4, UzA reported.

According to the document, the IFC will provide the bank with a subordinated loan for $50 million and assistance in the issuance and private placement of Eurobonds.

The Corporation plans to assist in the implementation of the Bank’s planned pre-privatization measures by improving capital adequacy. Measures will be supported to increase the scale of lending to small and medium-sized businesses and private entrepreneurship in strategically important areas.

SQB has been working closely with IFC since 2018 on strengthening the bank’s corporate governance, reviewing business processes, commercializing its operations, improving the risk management system, as well as assisting the bank in the development of green banking.

Currently, after diagnostics and building a customer-centric business development model, the third stage of transformation is underway, where a new business model of the bank is being implemented with the update of the IT system and related infrastructure.

It should be noted that to implement the necessary measures to prepare SQB for the privatization process, the IFC allocated a credit line to the bank for $75 million in August this year with the option of conversion into equity.