Development Bank of Kazakhstan

The Development Bank of Kazakhstan (DBK), formally the joint-stock company Bank of Development of Kazakhstan, is a state development bank established to support economic development in Kazakhstan. Its official materials describe its mission as improving national welfare through sustainable development of the non-resource economy and the creation of infrastructure that supports economic growth. The bank presents itself as a national development finance institution rather than a general-purpose consumer bank, and specializes in financing and developing large businesses and projects with significant economic and social effects. DBK’s financing focus includes manufacturing, infrastructure and export operations. Its official website says it finances projects in processing industries and infrastructure, including greenfield projects, as well as export operations. The Russian-language encyclopedia entry describes a broader portfolio of medium- and long-term services: investment-project and export-operation loans, working-capital lending, bridge and mezzanine financing, syndicated finance, financing for leasing transactions, guarantees, equity participation and interbank financing. Its target projects include energy, transport and telecommunications infrastructure; manufacturing sectors such as metallurgy, chemicals, petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals and engineering; commercial service facilities; food and beverage production; agricultural production and processing; and exports of Kazakh products, works and services. The bank’s strategy emphasizes projects with high socioeconomic impact and added value, including import substitution and export potential, alongside infrastructure development, a larger role for the private sector, portfolio quality and integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles. DBK says it incorporates ESG factors into decisions about financial support and into the bank’s and borrowers’ activities. Its client base is oriented toward medium and large businesses and substantial projects located in Kazakhstan. DBK was created through state measures adopted in 2000 and 2001. The supplied sources identify a presidential decree dated 28 December 2000 and a government resolution dated 18 May 2001 establishing the closed joint-stock company. The bank’s history also records a government decision in 2009 to raise its capitalization to 250 billion tenge, with the stated aim of making its bonds more attractive to foreign investors and supporting funding amid a shortage of long-term liquidity in the domestic market. In March 2023, DBK placed its first green-bond issue on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange, raising 10 billion tenge; in April that year it approved an ESG implementation roadmap. The bank’s Russian-language Wikipedia entry reports that, as of 12 December 2024, 182 investment projects had been approved and financed, with total project funding of 12.9 trillion tenge and DBK participation of 6.9 trillion tenge, alongside support for 131 export operations. It also reports that production capacity had been launched for 137 investment projects and that operating enterprises created about 34,000 permanent jobs. These figures are attributed to that supplied encyclopedia source and represent its stated reporting date, not independently verified current totals.

The Development Bank of Kazakhstan (DBK) was created through a sequence of state measures intended to establish a dedicated development-finance institution. According to the bank’s official “About Us” page, a decree of the First President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, dated 28 December 2000, concerned the creation of the Development Bank of Kazakhstan. A government resolution dated 18 May 2001 then provided for the creation of the closed joint-stock company Bank of Development of Kazakhstan. The supplied sources identify the bank as a state bank and place its headquarters in Astana. DBK’s stated institutional purpose is to improve national welfare by supporting sustainable development of the non-resource economy and building infrastructure that enables economic growth. Its role is to finance projects whose scale, duration or development objectives suit a national development institution. The bank focuses on medium- and large-scale businesses and projects in Kazakhstan rather than positioning itself as a general retail bank. Its official materials emphasize manufacturing and processing industries, infrastructure, greenfield development and export operations. The bank’s project scope includes infrastructure such as energy, transport and telecommunications; manufacturing activities including metallurgy, chemicals, petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals and engineering; commercial service facilities; food and beverage production; and agricultural production and processing. It also supports exports of Kazakh products, works and services. Its listed financial instruments include investment and export loans, working-capital lending, bridge and mezzanine finance, syndicated financing, leasing finance, guarantees, equity participation and interbank lending. The bank’s stated strategic aims include financing manufacturing projects with high socioeconomic impact, import-substitution potential and export prospects; supporting national infrastructure; expanding the role of the private sector; maintaining portfolio quality; and broadening its funding base. A capital increase was an important step in the bank’s funding history. The supplied Russian-language Wikipedia article reports that, on 28 September 2009, the Government of Kazakhstan decided to increase the bank’s capitalization to 250 billion tenge. It states that the increase, provided through state funds, was intended to make DBK bonds more attractive to foreign investors and to support funding in a domestic market short of long-term liquidity. The bank’s official history page also lists years including 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2020, but the supplied excerpt does not provide enough detail to describe specific events for each of those years. In 2023, DBK added green finance and ESG measures to its documented activity. Its history page says that the bank placed its first green-bond issue on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange in March, with an issue volume of 10 billion tenge. In April, it approved an ESG roadmap for its own activities. The bank’s current-facing homepage also describes ESG integration in decisions on financial support and in the activities of both DBK and its borrowers. The supplied Russian-language Wikipedia article gives a dated account of the bank’s reported project results as of 12 December 2024: 182 investment projects had been approved and financed, with a combined project amount of 12.9 trillion tenge and DBK participation of 6.9 trillion tenge; it also reports support for 131 export operations. The same entry states that production capacity had been launched for 137 investment projects and that operating enterprises had created about 34,000 permanent jobs. These figures are reported here with their source and stated date, rather than treated as independently verified or as current totals. DBK’s official services page lists investment projects, export operations, guarantees, interbank lending and related services. A notice on that page states that the bank moved to ISO 20022 payment-document standards on 13 January 2025. The supplied homepage describes DBK as continuing to invest in projects intended to develop the non-resource sector and support sustainable growth. The available evidence does not identify named founders, current executives, or specific ownership arrangements beyond the bank’s state-bank characterization.

• Presidential decree concerning the bank

• Government resolution establishes the bank

• Government decides to increase bank capitalization

• First green-bond issue

• ESG implementation roadmap approved

• Reported project and export-operation results

• Transition to ISO 20022

A national development finance institution focused on large-scale projects that build Kazakhstan’s non-resource economy, manufacturing capacity, infrastructure and export potential.

• Investment-project financing

  Financing for large-scale projects, including manufacturing, processing-industry and infrastructure projects.

• Export-operation financing

  Financing supporting exports of Kazakh products, works and services.

• Guarantees

  Guarantee services listed among the bank’s services and financing instruments.

• Interbank financing

  Interbank lending and related financing services.

• Syndicated and mezzanine financing

  Financing instruments identified in the supplied encyclopedia entry.

• Adoption of an ESG roadmapOther

• Adoption of ISO 20022 payment-document standardsOther

1. 1Official website of JSC Bank of Development of Kazakhstankdb.kz
2. 2Bank historykdb.kz
3. 3Serviceskdb.kz
4. 4About uskdb.kz
5. 5Банк развития Казахстанаru.wikipedia.org
6. 6Development Bank of Kazakhstanwikidata.org