OREANDA-NEWS. June 17, 2010. Shareholders of Kyrgyz Investment and Credit Bank (KICB), one of Kyrgyzstan’s leading commercial banks, agreed to increase Charter capital of KICB by USD 7.5 million. The decision to increase the Charter Capital was made at the Shareholders Meeting held in Istanbul, Turkey, reported the press-centre of KICB.

The Current Charter capital of the bank is USD 10 million and the increase of USD 7.5 million will bring the total Charter Capital of KICB to USD 17.5 million.

“Kyrgyzstan as one of the KICB shareholder fully supports decision made on shareholders meeting to increase Charter Capital.  We are confident that the increase of the KICB capitalization will enable the bank to extend its lending opportunities and thereafter extend ability of the bank to finance entrepreneurs of different regions of the country. And it undoubtedly will lead to further growth of the economic and business activity of Kyrgyz Republic”, said Mr. Abdyldaev SH. I., Ministry of State Property of the Kyrgyz Republic.

“The decision to increase the Charter capital shows strong commitment of KICB shareholders to the further development of the KICB. This demonstrates strong evidence of our shareholders’ confidence in the bank and in the Kyrgyz Republic. Our plan is to become one of the few top-tiered banks in Kyrgyzstan which is consistently trusted by its customers. The capital increase is an important milestone for the bank in realizing its strategic objectives and it also represents a significant contribution to the economic development of the Kyrgyz Republic”, said Mr. Kwang-Young Choi, CEO of KICB.

The increased capital base will enable the bank to raise more funds from International Financial Institutions, which will ultimately be channeled to the private sector of the Kyrgyz economy by increased lending to the borrowers.

With new funds from the capital increase, KICB will continue investing in its banking infrastructure and product development, including opening of new branches in the regions, broadening its ATM network and more.

Ever since the start of its operations in Kyrgyzstan, in addition to its paid-in capital, the Bank has attracted funds around USD 60 million through different credit lines. These funds are long, medium and short term loans to small and medium-sized businesses throughout the Kyrgyz Republic, which represent the bulk of the country’s economy. In fact KICB is the first bank in Kyrgyz Republic to introduce long and medium term lending due to availability of funds through these credit lines.

KICB has plans to increase its Charter Capital up to USD 30 million within 5 years and the current capital increase of USD 7.5 million is the first step in this direction.