The head banker of Kazakhstan tempts colleagues with Siberia

/Almaty bureau REUTERS, Oljas Auezov, October 9, 02/ - Chairman of the National Bank of Kazakhstan Grigory Marchenko called "strategically incorrect" the Kazakhstan banks' aspiration to strengthen at Russian market through Moscow and considers Ural, Siberia and Povolzhiye as more promising regions. "The fact that Bank TuranAlem, and Kazkommertsbank, and maybe Halyk Bank (three largest banks in Kazakhstan) want to go to Moscow, is, in my opinion, strategically incorrect", - said Marchenko on Wednesday at the press-conference. In 2003 Kazkommertsbank intends to purchase the control packet of shares in a small Interregional bank of entrepreneurship development, which is situated in Moscow, and rename it as Moscommertsbank. Bank TuranAlem has a market share in the International bank Astana, whichis also in Moscow. Kazakhstan Temirbank, which is middle be the size, also has a representatives in Moscow. Large Kazakhstan banks examine foreign expansion as a means of profitable floatation of quickly growing assets, which now equal to about $6bn on the whole baking system. Marchenko called foreign expansion of Kazakhstan banks "the objective necessity". However he believes that it is difficult for them to compete with large Moscow banks. "There are many strong banks in Moscow, which are larger than our ones", - he said. At the same time advantages of Russian remote place, in Marchanko's opinion, whose authority is doubtless in Kazakhstan banking sphere, are evident. "They (largest Kazakhstan banks) would be the largest bank there... In that place - there are major technological chains for Kazakhstan enterprises and a very high potential," - says Marchanko. But he confesses that domestic bankers do not hurry to follow his recommendations yet. "I have been saying this for more than one year, but, on the reason that most of them studied in Moscow, evidently, it is more interesting foe them to go there... And it is less interesting for them to go somewhere like to Yekaterinburg, Omsk or Krasnoyarsk". [2002-10-09]