Uzbekistan Plans to Privatize Five State Banks by 2030

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — As part of the updated “Uzbekistan-2030” Strategy, a phased privatization of state-owned banks is planned. The document, published on the SOVAZ platform for public discussion, envisions reducing the number of state banks from nine to four by 2030. This implies that at least one bank will be privatized each year.

Currently, the government owns NBU, Agrobank, Uzpromstroybank, Asakabank, National Bank, Bank for Business Development, Microcreditbank, Alokabank, and Turonbank. In 2026, the number of state banks is expected to decrease to eight.

Earlier, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Asakabank, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) signed a Term Sheet outlining the key commercial terms of privatization and institutional cooperation between the parties. Under the agreement, the EBRD plans to acquire a 15% stake in Asakabank.

After all regulatory, transactional, and corporate legal requirements are met, the bank is expected to join the EBRD as a shareholder in 2026.