BTA loses $13.4 billion in Jan-Sep

BTA Bank, until recently Kazakhstan’s biggest bank, lost KZT2 trillion ($13.4 billion) in January through September, the bank reported on Thursday.

BTA was nationalized in February and went into default in April, citing losses due to bad loans. BTA’s former managers have fled Kazakhstan after the government takeover of the bank, amid accusations of improper practices and fraud.

According to the Financial Supervision Agency (FSA), BTA’s share of non-performing loans in its loan portfolio exceeded 75 percent as of the end of September. The bank has made provisions against bad loans worth $11.5 billion so far this year.

BTA is currently trying to reach a debt restructuring agreement to avoid bankruptcy. It has asked creditors to write off about $8 billion of its $10 billion debt while creditors have offered a $5 billion write off and are seeking to gain a controlling stake in BTA after a restructuring. BTA has until December 7 to finalize the deal, a deadline set by the FSA.

By SRI