Solva to enter Uzbekistan’s market after failed attempt to become a bank in Kazakhstan

Solva is going to enter Uzbekistan’s market / Photo by Farid Veliyev, photo editor: Dastan Shanay

OnlineKazFinance, a microfinance organization operating under the Solva brand, announced its plans to enter the Uzbekistani market. The statement was made during the Investor Day at KASE event. The company anticipates obtaining a license in the first half of 2025, according to its presentation.

Solva announced that it had already developed a dedicated IT platform for doing business in Uzbekistan, with preparations for entering the country’s market having been underway for over a year.

The primary effort of a future Uzbekistani subsidiary will be focused on financing small and medium-sized businesses. Solva analysts highlighted that this expansion will help diversify the company’s business and open up new opportunities for expansion into other markets within the Central Asian region.

In December 2024, Kursiv.media reported that Kazakhstan’s Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market (ARDFM) had rejected Solva’s application to reorganize into a bank — a goal the company had pursued for several years. According to Kapital.kz, a Kazakhstani business media outlet, citing a statement made by Solva Group CEO Konstantin Barabanov on Jan. 27, «the regulator failed to review all the documents on time» and was unable to make a decision within the required 120-day period, leading to the application’s denial.

Madina Abylkassymova, chair of the ARDFM, previously stated that the documents submitted by Solva had been rejected multiple times due to noncompliance with regulations, including issues regarding capital requirements.

According to National Bank statistics, as of Oct. 1, 2024, Solva ranked fourth among microfinance organizations (MFOs) in Kazakhstan, with roughly $232.3 million in assets, which accounts for 7.6% of the total assets of all MFOs operating in Kazakhstan and surpasses the amount held by the 179 market players with the lowest asset volumes combined.

According to Kazakhstan Stock Exchange’s data as of Oct. 1, 2024, the founders of Microfinance Organization OnlineKazFinance were Neo Crystal Holdings (12%), Solva Group (13%) and Solva Capital (75%).

At the same time, Neo Crystal Holdings is managed by the family of Egyptian entrepreneur Sawiris and the ZCP fund. According to the Astana Financial Services Authority Public Register, the list of stakeholders in Solva Group has eight individuals and three entities, including Alexander Dunaev, Boris Batin and Neo Crystal Holdings. The latter also owns Solva Capital, according to open-source data on Egov.kz.