Arnur Credit Expanding Access to Finance for Micro, Small, and Medium-Sized Enterprise Borrowers Project (ADB-57145-001)

Regions
  • Europe and Central Asia
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Countries
  • Kazakhstan
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Financial Institutions
  • Asian Development Bank (ADB)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Bank Risk Rating
C
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Voting Date
Aug 19, 2024
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
Microfinance Organization Arnur Credit Limited Liability Company
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Finance
  • Industry and Trade
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Loan
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Project Cost (USD)
$ 5.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Bank Documents
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ ADB website

Updated in EWS Mar 18, 2025

Disclosed by Bank Aug 20, 2024

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Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

Under this project ADB provides a loan to Microfinance Organization Arnur Credit Limited Liability Company for Small and medium enterprise finance and leasing.

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.
Financial Intermediary
A financial intermediary is a bank or financial institution that receives funds from a development bank. A financial intermediary then lends these funds to their clients (private actors) in the form of loans, bonds, guarantees and equity shares. Financial intermediaries include insurance, pension and equity funds. The direct financial relationship is between the development bank and the financial intermediary.
Private Actors Description
A Private Actor is a non-governmental body or entity that is the borrower or client of a development project, which can include corporations, private equity and banks. This describes the private actors and their roles in relation to the project, when private actor information is disclosed or has been further researched.

As stated by the ADB, Microfinance Organization “Arnur Credit” Limited Liability Company (Arnur Credit) was founded in 2001 as a rural credit partnership “Arnur and K” by three local private individuals. In 2004, it was converted into a microcredit organization and renamed Microfinance Organization “Arnur Credit” Limited Liability Company. In December 2011, three impact funds (ASN Novib Microcredietfonds, Rural Impulse Fund, and Microvest Capital Management) invested, acquiring 17.5%, 17.5%, and 10.0% stakes. The acquisition was through an injection of new capital. At the same time, Frantishek Zajic, a private investor from the Czech Republic involved in the export of raw cotton from Kazakhstan to Europe, bought out the local shareholders and became Arnur Credit’s controlling shareholder with a 55.0% stake. Following his death in 2020, his shares were inherited by his three children (18.33% each).

As of January 2024, the Zajic family remains the largest shareholder in Arnur Credit with its 55.0% stake. Other large shareholders include European investment funds, ASN Novib Microcredietfonds and Rural Impulse Fund, with 17.5% of Arnur Credit’s shares each, and the Singapore-registered investment fund, Paladigm Holding Private Limited, which bought out Microvest’s 10.0% stake in February 2021 (please see Table 1 below). The Zajic family, ASN Novib Microcredietfonds, Rural Impulse Fund, and Paladigm Holding Private Limited each have one nominee  representative on Arnur Credit’s board of directors.


Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

Responsible ADB Officer
Kurmanbekov, Ruslan
Responsible ADB Division
Private Sector Financial Institutions Division
Responsible ADB Department
Private Sector Operations Department

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can submit an information request for project information at: https://www.adb.org/forms/request-information-form

ADB has a two-stage appeals process for requesters who believe that ADB has denied their request for information in violation of its Access to Information Policy. You can learn more about filing an appeal at: https://www.adb.org/site/disclosure/appeals

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF ADB

The Accountability Mechanism is an independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who believe they are likely to be, or have been, adversely affected by an Asian Development Bank-financed project. If you submit a complaint to the Accountability Mechanism, they may investigate to assess whether the Asian Development Bank is following its own policies and procedures for preventing harm to people or the environment. You can learn more about the Accountability Mechanism and how to file a complaint at: http://www.adb.org/site/accountability-mechanism/main.

How it works

How it works