Sanoat Qurilish Bank
Over the last century, Sanoat Qurilish Bank has had a front-row view of Uzbekistan’s economic zigs and zags. But it is the work the bank is doing to forge a greener future that put it in front to win our awards for best domestic bank and best for environmental, social and governance this year.
State-owned SQB is among Uzbekistan’s oldest banks, having opened in 1922 as the Industrial Bank of Tashkent. Today, its main shareholders are the ministry of finance, Uzbekistan’s fund for reconstruction and development, and a handful of enterprises in a variety of sectors of the economy.
Its trajectory is often seen as a good proxy for where Uzbekistan has been and where it’s going. In 1991, the year the government declared independence from the Soviet Union, SQB was transformed into a joint-stock commercial bank. By 2009, it had become an open joint-stock commercial bank, a move that many peers have followed since.
These days, SQB – which is led by chairman Sakhi Annaklichev – is at the vanguard of banks angling to guide Uzbekistan toward a more sustainable tomorrow.
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