OREANDA-NEWS. August 29, 2007. Executive Director of Bank TuranAlem JSC (BTA) Yerbol Shaymakhanov and Director General of South Kyrgyz Cement CJSC Jan Fischer signed a Guarantee Agreement of financing of a construction project of Kyzyl-Kiya cement plant in Kyrgyzstan.

The Bank backs a $70 million loan South Kyrgyz Cement CJSC borrowed from Eximbank of China.

Construction of Kyzyl-Kiya cement plant is a maiden Kyrgyz project approved within a cheap credit facility of the Chinese government for member nations of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

At the signing ceremony of the document, the parties stated that the agreement marks a milestone in the development of mutually beneficial coop between Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.

The initial capacity of the facility makes nearly 930,000 tons of cement annually and design capacity is 2 million tons annually. The project is treated a priority for Kyrgyzstan as it enables to completely satisfy all cement needs in southern Kyrgyzstan (almost 60% of the total output) and export products to Central Asian countries (40%).
BTA is among biggest banks in the CIS with leading positions in terms of a banking chain. As of June 30, 2007 its consolidated assets made $23,966 million ($16,340 million at the end of 2006), equity capital totaled $2,379 million ($1,532 million respectively).

Bank TuranAlem operating in the CIS and far-abroad countries is expanding into the CIS countries. Activities of its strategic bank partners cover Ukraine, 4 regions in Russia, Belarus, Georgia, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and Turkey. BTA runs its representative offices in Russia, Ukraine, China and the United Arab Emirates.

In Kazakhstan, BTA chain embraces 22 branches and 249 cash settlement centers.