Kaspi's co-founder has made the largest investment in a bank in Kyrgyzstan

Foreign investment in Kyrgyzstan’s banking sector increased by 3.8 billion KGS in 2025. However, nearly all of this growth was driven by a single player. The key factor was the 3.4 billion KGS recapitalization of Optima Bank, now under its new owner—Kaspi.kz co-founder Vyacheslav Kim.

Vyacheslav Kim completed the deal to purchase Jusan Bank (now Alatau City Bank), which owns 100% of Optima Bank’s shares, in July 2025. The current capital increase represents a subsequent direct strengthening of the Kyrgyz subsidiary by the new shareholder.

Moreover, this is the largest recapitalization of a bank in Kyrgyzstan in recent years. For Optima Bank, this is already the second capital increase.

Previously, in the third quarter of 2023, the bank’s capital was increased from 1.02 billion KGS to 2.04 billion KGS—at that time, the investor injected just over one billion KGS. In 2025, the injection amounted to 3.4 billion KGS. This is more than three times the previous increase and increased the bank’s capital by more than 2.6 times.

It is important to note that the recapitalization was not driven by regulatory pressure. Even with capital slightly above 2 billion KGS, Optima Bank could have operated without issue until July 2029, when the minimum threshold for commercial bankswill reach 2.5 billion KGS. This means that the decision to inject funds was an investment choice, not a forced one.

A notable increase in foreign capital was also recorded:

• Kyrgyzkommerzbank—from 529.2 million KGS to 635 million KGS (controlled by Japan’s HS Holdings, 52.9%);
• Bank of Asia—from 1.06 billion KGS to 1.16 billion KGS (86.9% owned by a South Korean citizen).

Against this backdrop, other banks with foreign participation remained stable without significant growth.

At the same time, the largest volumes of foreign capital are concentrated in:

• Demir Bank (Turkish and Dutch capital) — approximately 6 billion KGS;
• Keremet Bank (Luxembourg-based company) — over 6.5 billion KGS;
• KICB — more than 1.8 billion KGS (Pakistani capital, Aga Khan Foundation);
• O!Bank — 1.8 billion KGS (Kazakhstani capital).

In total, the system comprises about 12 banks with foreign participation (excluding new entrants from late 2025 to early 2026).

As a result, in 2025, foreign capital in the banking system grew from 22.8 billion to 26.6 billion KGS, but the structure of this growth turned out to be concentrated.