Hkalykbank (Kazakhstan) insists on privatisation by emission

/REUTERS Almaty office, Aug.13, 1999/ - The Narodny (Hkalyk) Bank of Kazakhstan considers that privatisation of the bank by placement of the new issue shares and increase of its capitalisation will be more preferable, then sales of the state paccage, - the bank vice-president Leonid Ivanov said to REUTERS. "The bank management's approach is: privatisation should lead to growth of the bank capitals and strengthening of the bank" - he said. The question on privatisation of the Narodny Bank (former savings bank of Kazakh Republic) is decided by government, which owns 80% of shares. At first government assumed to sell the controlling block of shares by tender, not excluding, that it can be bought by a foreign investor. However later vice- premier and Finance minister Uraz Dzhandosov has told, that there can be another variant. In the beginning of August he said to REUTERS that the opportunity of privatisation through new issue is considered. The Narodny Bank privatisation began in the autumn of the last year, when the additional issue of the shares was placed with its depositors, later one more issue was sold to the domestic investor. As the result both investors ("Delta" Co. Ltd.) and depositors have 10% of the shares each. The further program of privatisation supposed to issue the shares for 301.2 million tenges and to place it by the advertised bidding with the unlimited amount of investors. But in March the shareholders accepted to postpone issue, before the government ratify the new program of privatisation in the country. In Ivanov opinion, sale of the bank shares to anybody will not result in strengthening of the bank. "Concerning the Narodny Bank we see only one problem - the level of the capital", - he said. The authorised capital of the bank, at July 1, 1999 is 3.012 billions of tenge, the ownership capital - 4.8 billions of tenge. The bank assets amounted to KZT46.6 billion. "There is enough of intending to become the owner of the bank, if we will be allowed to decide this question, the bank development will be very fast accelerated", - Ivanov believes. The Narodny Bank has 43,000 shareholders or approximately two thirds of all deposits of the of the natural persons.