Halyk Bank Gets Rid of Its Russian Subsidiary

Halyk Bank Kazakhstan has sold its 100% share in Moskommertsbank, according to Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE).

In an official press release, the bank said the decision followed a comprehensive analysis of Moskommertsbank operations and its outlook in the Russian market. The bank accounted for 2% of the entire business of Halyk Group.

«We are going to put our major efforts and resources into projects that have good potential for growth and can generate a high level of profit. We are trying to focus on the most promising directions of the business. This is the strategic principle for Halyk Group,» the bank said in a statement. Earlier, the same justification was used in Tajikistan, where Halyk sold its local subsidiary.

However, the bank admitted that the decision to sell the Russian bank was also driven by the current geopolitical tensions. In September, Umut Shayakhmetova, CEO of Haly Bank touched on the topic while revealing problems the bank has struggled with because of mobilization in Russia. For example, 80 male specialists of Moskommertsbank were conscripted into the army. The vast majority of them were IT specialists.

It is expected that Moskommertsbank will continue to serve its clients as usual, although it is unknown who has bought the bank.

Moskommertsbanks was established in 2001. In 2007 it was bought by the Kazakhstani bank Kazkommertsbank. In 2017, after Kazkommertsbank was acquired by Halyk Bank, the bank was merged with NBK Bank, another Russian subsidiary of Halyk Bank. In 2021, Moskommertsbank was ranked 130th among Russian commercial banks in terms of assets. The bank runs branch offices in Moscow, Saint-Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Novosibirsk and Chelyabinsk.