Ahead of Schedule: Halyk Returns State Aid Issued to Kazkommertsbank

In 2015, the state provided 250 billion tenge of support to Kazkommertsbank under the program to improve financial stability. The money was then provided as a deposit from the Kazakhstan Sustainability Fund.

After the merger of Kazkommertsbank with Halyk Bank in 2018, the latter became the legal successor of the deposit, and the amount of state aid was transferred to the balance sheet of the merged bank. 

In 2023, Halyk repaid part of the deposit — 68.4 billion tenge.

A year later, in 2024, the bank returned the remainder — 181.6 billion tenge. Halyk repaid 250 billion tenge of state aid ahead of schedule. According to the terms of the agreement, the obligations had to be closed by 2037. 

Commenting on the return of state funds, the head of Halyk, Umut Shayakhmetova, noted that financial support was provided to BTA and Kazkommertsbank as financial aid for these two institutions.

Kazkommertsbank was the largest bank in the system, and the state could not allow its collapse. Halyk Bank fulfilled its mission by becoming a strategic investor. The market was stabilized, and most importantly, depositors, both individuals, and there are millions of them, and legal entities, were not affected, summed up Umut Shayakhmetova.

During a budget discussion at the end of October, Majilis deputy Yerlan Sairov asked why the government does not demand private banks to return state funds.

He emphasized that, despite the budget deficit, hundreds of billions of public money have accumulated in commercial banks' accounts. He called this situation a world precedent—when "private banks live at the expense of state money." 

Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov noted at a government meeting that banks are returning their aid.

The government knows, sees all this money, and gradually all this state aid will be returned, Bektenov concluded.

Original Author: Maria Kravtsova