Freedom Bank Cancels Planned Kyrgyz Subsidiary After Shareholder Vote

Freedom Bank Kazakhstan has reversed its decision to set up a subsidiary in Kyrgyzstan, Orda.kz reports

According to the report on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange website, this decision was made at the general meeting of shareholders.

On 12 December 2025, Freedom Finance JSC had approved the establishment of a subsidiary bank in Kyrgyzstan. The plan was to obtain a banking licence and operate as a closed joint-stock company. However, this decision has now been officially cancelled.

Additionally, the bank's Chairman of the Board was instructed to withdraw the application submitted to the Agency for the Regulation and Development of the Financial Market of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The project to enter the Kyrgyz banking market has been stopped at the coordination stage with the regulator. The reasons for revising the decision are not specified in the published document.

Notable reshuffles in power continue in Kyrgyzstan. President Sadyr Zhaparov has made a number of personnel changes within the government. One of the most widely discussed events was the resignation of Kamchybek Tashiyev, the head of the State Security Committee and a long-standing associate of the president. His departure has upset the current balance of power among the elite and sparked discussions about the redistribution of influence in the country.

Meanwhile, a new deputy chairman of the State Security Committee was appointed and a deputy was replaced in the Jogorku Kenesh, the country's parliament.

Original author: Ilya Astakhov