Press Release

Nur-Sultan
July 30, 2021

Guram Andronikashvili to retire as ForteBank Chairman of the Management Board 

Fortebank announced today that its current Chairman of the Management Board, Guram Andronikashvili is retiring from his post, and will continue in a new role as member of the Supervisory  Board from August 1, 2021. Deputy Chairman of the Management Board, Sholpan Nurumbet, is appointed as acting Chairman of the Management Board as of that date. 

“I would like to thank Guram for his work over the last several years. Under his leadership Fortebank demonstrated stable asset growth combined with excellent financial performance, continually growing its client base and improving customer service and product offering. Significant progress was made in digitalisation of the bank and transformation of internal corporate culture. I am confident that this has laid an excellent foundation for further success of Forte”, commented Bulat Utemuratov, majority shareholder of ForteBank.     

Guram Andronikashvili was appointed as the Chairman of the Management Board of ForteBank in February 2018. During his management term For the bank demonstrated stable asset growth with continuous improvement of capitalisation and liquidity metrics. Over the last three years net income of the bank increased 2.7 times, from 20 bn tenge in 2017 to 53 bn tenge (c. US$130mm) in 2020, with return on equity improving from 10.2% to 21.2%. Continuous improvement in profitability coupled with conservative growth of loan portfolio and focused risk management culture allowed the bank to maintain high level of stability, which was noted by all three rating agencies. As a part of strategic development under management of Guram Andronikashvili, bank underwent internal digital transformation and a number of new ecosystem products were launched (ForteMarket – digital marketplace, ForteMobile – mobile service package, ForteForex – p2p foreign exchange). Just in 2020 number of retail clients using ForteApp increased by 38.3% and number of corposate clients using Forte internet banking increased by 35.8%.   

“I would like to express my gratitude to the shareholder of the bank, Mr Bulat Utemuratov, for his trust, guidance and support over the period of last 11 years during which I have worked for Forte. I am sure that going forward I will be able to continue supporting the bank, but in a new role as a member of the supervisory board. I would also like to thank all my colleagues for their exceptional dedication in shaping Forte. Together, we have successfully transformed Forte from a small bank that was one of the smallest in the country in 2010 to one of the leading universal banks and a growing ecosystem in Kazakhstan. Over the last several years we have proven our financial strength by comfortably passing the Asset Quality Review (AQR) and regulatory stress tests, operated effectively during the Covid-19 pandemic and at the same time delivered record financial and operational performance.  As a part of the implementation of our strategy, Forte made huge steps in working out our historical heritage loan portfolios from Alliance and Temir banks, completely upgraded our IT architecture and infrastructure and created new data gathering and analytical platform - Forte DataLake, built out significant digital capabilities and developed our own app for individual clients and legal entities (to be released in the nearest future).  All this allowed us to offer quality new products and services to our clients, including beyond banking ecosystem products, the number of which is growing from year to year, and to create a high-quality platform for the further development of Forte,” commented Guram Andronikashvili, Chairman of the Management Board of ForteBank.






Guram Andronikashvili to retire as ForteBank Chairman of the Management Board 

ForteBank received the award as the Best Bank in Kazakhstan according to a authoritative international magazine Euromoney.

**Guram Andronikashvili, a Chairman of the Board of ForteBank**, commented on receiving of the award: *“On behalf of ForteBank, I would like to express my gratitude to  Euromoney jury for a high assessment of our work. This award confirms that despite the challenging times caused by the pandemic, our Bank has chosen the right strategy that allows us to grow and offer our clients high quality services and products. I am grateful to every Forte client for their trust and loyalty to the Bank, as well as to every Forte employee for hard work and contribution to the Bank's development."*

As **the editor of Euromoney magazine Lucy Fitzgeorge-Parker** notes, *“Prudent management and fast-paced innovation helped ForteBank consolidate its position as a rising star in Kazakhstan’s competitive banking market last year and make the number four lender a worthy winner of the award for best bank in Kazakhstan. Impressive returns were balanced by solid fundamentals, while the launch of a suite of ecosystem products put down a marker for future growth”.*

The **Euromoney** Award are given to the leaders in banking, finance and investment in 100 countries around the world since 1992 and is considered one of the most prestigious in the international financial world. Euromoney pays special attention to maintaining high standards of impartiality, fairness and accuracy in determining the winners. Editors, experts and analysts carefully examine the activities of each candidate bank, conduct their own market soundings with international correspondent banks, pick up brain of prominent financiers and bankers. The decision-making process usually takes two months. 

*According to Euromoney magazine editor Lucy Fitzgeorge-Parker: “Banks awarded by Euromoney as part of the Awards for Excellence have a reputation of strong financial institutions, despite all the objective difficulties of doing banking in the modern world. They provide first-class financial services and are trusted by clients. Last year we received almost 1,000 submissions from banks in our regional and country awards programme that covers more than 50 regional awards and best bank awards in close to 100 countries.”*

*ForteBank is one of the most stable, liquid and well-capitalized banks in the country. Over the past 12 months, ForteBank was recognized as the "Best Bank of Kazakhstan" for the second time according to Asiamoney, for the third time it was recognized as "Bank of the Year in Kazakhstan" according to The Banker magazine, and for the fourth year in a row, "The Best Bank of Kazakhstan" according to the magazine Global Finance.*


Euromoney recognizes ForteBank as the Best Bank  in Kazakhstan 

PRESS RELEASE

CHANGE IN THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF FORTEBANK JSC

ForteBank JSC (location of the Management Board: 8/1, Dostyk str., Esil District, Nur-Sultan city, Z05P1P0/010017, Republic of Kazakhstan) (hereinafter referred to as “the Bank”) informs on changes in the composition of the Board of Directors of the Bank.

In accordance with the resolution of the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders of the Bank as of July 12, 2021 (minutes of the meeting no. 02/21), Guram Andronikashvili was elected a member of the Board of Directors of the Bank in the capacity of representative of the interests of Bulat Utemuratov, a shareholder of the Bank, as from August 2, 2021.

Thus, starting with August 2, 2021, the composition of the Bank's Board of Directors will be as follows: 

- four representatives of the shareholder's interests: Marlen Mirzabekov, Anuar Utemuratov, Timur Issatayev, Guram Andronikashvili; 
- two independent directors: Hubert Pandza and Eldar Abdrazakov.

Changes in the Board of Directiors of ForteBank JSC

**Nur-Sultan city, February 08th, 2021** – ForteBank Joint Stock Company located at: 8/1, Dostyk str., Nur-Sultan city, Z05P1P0/010017, Republic of Kazakhstan (hereinafter the “Bank”), hereby informs that the powers of Rustem Bekturov as a member of the Board of Directors of the Bank, were terminated early starting on February 05th, 2021 on his own initiative (in accordance with the Article 55.4 of the Republic of Kazakhstan Law “On Joint Stock Companies”).

ForteBank JSC informs on changes in the composition of the Board of Directors 

**PRESS RELEASE**

Nur-Sultan 
22.01.2021 

**Asiamoney recognizes ForteBank as the Best Bank in Kazakhstan**

For the second time, ForteBank has become the bank of the year in Kazakhstan according to Asiamoney, which is a part of Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC Group.
Traditionally, the decision on bestowing the Asiamoney Best Bank Award is made by a team of experienced financial analysts lead by the editor of Euromoney, based on the in-depth analysis of the financial institutions’ operations and the local capital markets research materials. Moreover, actual customer and partner feedback is also taken into account.

The international **experts of Asiamoney** praised the high-quality realignment of ForteBank processes aimed at supporting its customers during the crisis caused by the pandemic. ForteBank has actively supported the governmental initiative aimed at restructuring the customers which have faced difficulties during the quarantine. For the legal entities, ForteBank is an active participant of the support programs for the industries hit by Covid-19, with preferential lending at 6% per annum. 

While commenting on the award, the Chairman of the Management Board of ForteBank **Mr. Guram Andronikashvili** noted: “We are grateful to Asiamoney for the high assessment of our work during the challenging 2020. Despite the adverse times caused by the pandemic, ForteBank continues to support its customers and to offer high-quality innovative services”.

ForteBank has won prestigious awards by the international business periodicals multiple times. The Banker and Global Finance, both being reputable international publications, recognized ForteBank as the best bank in Kazakhstan for three times.



*ForteBank is one of the most stable, solvent and well-capitalized banks in the country. In 2018-2020, ForteBank was recognized as the best bank in Kazakhstan according to Global Finance, and was recognized as the Best Bank in Kazakhstan according to Asiamoney in 2019, receiving the Bank of the Year in Kazakhstan award by The Banker in 2017, 2018 and 2020. AQR results have confirmed the high degree of reliability and stability of ForteBank. The Bank has 20 branches and about 100 outlets.*


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