The Central Bank, together with the government, is preparing for phased privatization of banks, in a move which will become part of the financial sector's development concept for medium term, the chairman of the Central Bank Mamariso Nurmuratov announced today at a press briefing.

The regulator has already divided the banks into two categories, those that are ready for privatization, and those that need to improve management.

“We need to seriously improve the quality of the loan portfolio and upgrade the management. To this end, we will outline the tasks in the concept that we are currently drafting together with the government,” said Nurmuratov.

“The government’s share in the banking system is around 84%. We cannot immediately carry out mass privatization. We will take steps based on the readiness of each bank. In the coming days, the government will issue the relevant decisions on banks privatization,” he said while adding that there are certain banks to which investors had shown interest and were “collaborating with the supervisory board.”

According to him, the International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group, is working with Ipoteka Bank, and is ready to become shareholder of the bank through its credit lines, while similarly considering Asia Alliance Bank.

“It is up to investor to decide whether a bank is ready for privatization, or not,” Nurmuratov stressed.