Already Alliance Bank, the country’s fourth-biggest lender, has requested a three-month moratorium on debt repayments after it was forced to write down $1.1 billion of assets linked to guarantees backed by US treasuries. These were issued between 2005 and 2008 but have not been properly reflected in the bank’s balance sheet. In 2009, Alliance has to repay about $570 million and the bank has already admitted to missing a loan repayment in March. Milena Ivanova-Venturini, banking analyst at Renaissance Capital in Almaty, says the fact that the government has yet to proceed with plans to take a majority stake in Alliance gives it...
