August 2008

Kazakh banking: RZB returns to Kazakhstan

by Guy Norton

Raiffeisen International, the central and eastern European banking arm of Austria’s RZB Group, has announced plans to establish a greenfield operation in Kazakhstan.


"We have been observing this market for a long time and we believe that now is a good time to make this step"
Herbert Stepic, Raiffeisen International

"Due to its economic potential and politically stable environment, Kazakhstan is an attractive market," says Herbert Stepic, Raiffeisen International’s chief executive. "We have been observing this market for a long time and we believe that now is a good time to make this step."

Raiffeisen had previously hoped to crack the Kazakh banking market through BTA (formerly Bank TuranAlem) in which it built a 7.7% minority stake in 2001. But it failed to come to an agreement over an acceptable...


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