Aidar Arifkhanov: 'Otbasy Bank will become a National Development Institution'

Otbasy Bank, a subsidiary of Baiterek Holding, is expected to become a national development institution. This was announced by Aidar Arifkhanov, Chairman of the Board of Baiterek Holding, during a meeting of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Tuesday, December 28.

According to Aidar Arifkhanov, Otbasy Bank will establish the Center for Housing Provision following the draft law on reforming the housing policy. The center will register all those in need of housing and distribute apartments according to applicants' income.

– The database of the Housing Center will be integrated with the government databases of individuals. In addition, Otbasy Bank will not be just an ordinary second-tier bank but the bank with the status of a national development institution, – said Aidar Arifkhanov.

Otbasy Bank will also develop a preferential mortgage program in cooperation with regional akims. The down payment will be 10%, a remuneration rate – 2-5%. This program is designed for residents of single-industry towns with low development potential. The program is set to be launched in the first quarter of 2022.

The system of housing construction savings proved to be effective as well. As of today, in 2021, 73 thousand soft loans have already been issued for a total of 1.1 trillion tenge, of which 13.6 thousand loans for 150 billion tenge falls on the Nurly Zher State Program.

The “Bakytty Otbasy” mortgage program for large and low-income families offers mortgages at 2% per annum. In 2021, the program allocated 70 billion tenge. 3,837 loans were issued for 45 billion tenge, 873 loans were approved for 10.2 billion tenge. In 2022-2025, the banks are expected to issue 240 billion tenge worth of loans under the “Bakhytty Otbasy” program.

– Baiterek Holding continues to work on other areas of housing construction through its subsidiary – the Kazakhstan Housing Company, which is now engaged in the construction of credit housing through the redemption of bonds. In 2021, akimats were funded for 163.7 billion tenge or 100% of the plan. The money was provided every 2 years at 4.25% per annum through the revolving credit line. For 2022-2025, bonds of akimats will be purchased for a total of 869 billion tenge. The money will be used to build 4 million square meters of real estate (or 68.2 thousand apartments), – stated the Chairman of the Board.

Also, 73 projects totaling 362 billion tenge will complete the construction of ​​2 million square meters of housing. It will enable people to purchase 21 thousand apartments in the commercial market. In total, projects worth almost 500 billion tenge will be guaranteed by 2025.

Subsidizing loans to private real estate developers continues. This year, projects for a total of 27.8 billion tenge have been approved (it was planned to approve projects for 20 billion tenge). The cost of commercial loans for construction companies has been reduced by an average of 50%. Until 2025, projects totaling 100 billion tenge will be supported.

Much work is being done by the Kazakhstan Housing Company, another subsidiary of the Holding. At present, the “Kazreestr” Unified Information System of Shared Participation is being modernized and integrated with government databases.

– This will reduce the time of registration of equity participation agreements from three days to two hours. It will also prevent real estate scams such as selling the same apartment twice, – said Aidar Arifkhanov.

Also, the Kazakhstan Housing Company has developed a Marketplace for Building Materials, which is aimed at reducing the cost of housing construction and supporting domestic manufacturers. The building materials manufacturers will be able to post information about their goods and services and make transactions.

– Now real estate developers can express the need for building materials and send commercial offers to domestic manufacturers on our marketplace. Soon, they will be able to purchase materials and conclude online contracts with suppliers. The marketplace will be launched in the first quarter of 2022, – said Aidar Arifkhanov.

Aidar Arifkhanov stated that all goals set in 2021 have been achieved. The Holding will continue to work for the benefit of the housing construction industry.