Timur Turlov’s Freedom to launch digital bank in Tajikistan

CEO of Freedom Holding Corp. Timur Turlov announced in his blog on Threads that Freedom Bank Kazakhstan is set to launch a retail digital bank in Tajikistan as early as this spring.

He has also assessed the potential of the country’s banking sector with $2 billion in assets. According to Turlov, non-cash transactions in Tajikistan account for just 20%, while banking services remain quite expensive in the country.

He also emphasized that the holding has already hired specialists who will work on the digital bank project in Tajikistan. In response to users’ comments, Turlov stated that the first payment cards will be available for issuance as early as this spring.

Freedom Bank announced its plans to establish a subsidiary in Tajikistan in January 2024. In April, it obtained a corresponding license from Kazakhstan’s Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market. Later, in October 2024, the Tajik regulator approved Freedom Bank Kazakhstan’s operations in the country.

As of Jan. 1, 2025, Freedom Bank was ranked 8th among the 21 commercial banks operating in Kazakhstan, with approximately $4.8 billion in assets, own capital totaling $403.5 million and a net profit of roughly $97.5 million, according to the National Bank of Kazakhstan.

The sole stakeholder of the bank is the Kazakhstani broker Freedom Finance JSC, a subsidiary of Freedom Holding Corp. The U.S.-listed holding controls various businesses, including Freedom Insurance, Freedom Life, Freedom Ticketon, Freedom Telecom, Freedom Drive, Freedom Mobile, the online grocery store Arbuz.kz, and flight ticket search aggregators Aviata.kz and Chocotravel. On Oct. 15, 2024, Freedom Holding Corp. celebrated its fifth anniversary of becoming publicly listed on Nasdaq. During this time, the holding’s share price grew nearly sevenfold, from $14.42 to $97, with its market capitalization reaching $6 billion.