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EBRD buys stake in state-owned pension fund in Kazakhstan
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is taking a stake of just
under 10 per cent in Kazakhstan’s Accumulation Pension Fund GNPF, a
state-owned pension fund and asset management company. The investment is
intended to support the Kazakh government as it transfers majority ownership
and control of a leading non-bank financial institution to a strategic
investor.
GNPF was set up in 1998 as part of reforms modernising the Soviet-era
pay-as-you-go pension system to the three-pillar system promoted by the World
Bank, in which pensions contain pay-as-you-go, mandatory and voluntary
components. It is now one of 14 pension fund management companies operating in
the Kazakh market. It manages assets worth over $1 billion and has over 2
million active contributors to its mandatory fund.
The EBRD is a significant investor in the pensions industry in Central Europe.
It supports the development of long-term savings for retirement, which brings
benefits both in terms of improving the welfare of people in old age and of
boosting savings on the local capital market, said EBRD President Jean
Lemierre during the signing in Almaty. The EBRD is subscribing to a 9.99 per
cent stake in the company. When the Kazakh government sells a majority stake
in the company, it is anticipated that the EBRD will acquire a further 10 per
cent stake.
The EBRD also offers an institution-building programme to strengthen corporate
governance, organisational structures, operation systems and controls for
asset management, risk management and management information systems;
strategic management and marketing. Technical cooperation funding of €350,000
is provided by the Canadian International Development Agency under the
CIDA-EBRD Phase V Technical Cooperation Fund. The EBRD’s total commitments to
Kazakhstan amount to $1.3 billion. The Bank continues to be the largest
lender and investor in the financial sector in Kazakhstan. As of 31 March
2006, the Bank has approved $527 million of business in the financial sector,
from support for trade finance to development of the agricultural sector, and
from support for micro, small and medium sized businesses to equity
participations.
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