The supervisory board of "Uzpromstroibank" (SQB) has undergone changes. Sergiu Cioklă, the former head of the National Bank of Moldova, has become its chairman, joining the board as an independent member.

Shareholders elected him on October 5, and on October 15, the board appointed him as chairman by resolution. The candidacy is subject to approval by the Central Bank.

Who is Sergiu Cioklă

The new chairman has over 25 years of experience in bank management, financial regulation, investment banking, and international capital markets.

2016–2018 — leadership of the National Bank of Moldova. During this period, the regulator implemented measures to strengthen banking system resilience, enhance financial oversight, and increase bank transparency. In particular, a two-tier governance system with a predominance of independent members was introduced at the National Bank itself, and transactions attracting foreign strategic investors to major commercial banks in the country were overseen.

During the same years, he served as Moldova's Governor at the IMF and Deputy Governor at the EBRD.

Prior to that — nearly 20 years with French group BNP Paribas in senior positions in corporate finance and investment banking. During this period, he participated as a consultant in approximately 70 mergers, acquisitions, and privatization transactions with a total value exceeding $30 billion.

Why the bank needs this profile

The choice of a chairman with privatization experience is not coincidental. As noted by the bank, this experience will be useful in preparing SQB for privatization.

This is a direct indication of the current task: the bank is undergoing pre-sale preparation, and the board is being formed accordingly. Earlier, Fitch noted that it expects government support for the bank until privatization is completed.

Updated board composition

Of the 11 board members, 8 are independent — approximately 73% of the composition. This proportion is the result of a reform program that SQB implemented jointly with the International Finance Corporation, the EBRD, and other partners. As part of this program, international practices were implemented in over 20 areas: corporate governance, risk management, treasury, business lines, and digital technologies.

In an independent PwC assessment, the bank's corporate governance system received a score of 91%.

Independent members:

  • Sergiu Cioklă — former head of Moldova's central bank;
  • Julia Aizup — over 23 years in the financial and banking sector, worked at Sberbank's East Siberian Bank and KPMG;
  • Ferdinand Willem Tuinstra — experience at ABN AMRO, Rabobank, Intesa Sanpaolo, IFC and World Bank structures;
  • Giorgi Chiladze — chairman of the board of Georgian Digital Area;
  • Olga Ulyanova — vice president and senior credit specialist at Moody's Moscow office from 2007–2022;
  • Umid Akhmedov — head of data processing and analysis at Danish Danske Commodities;
  • Hans Christoph Mangold — managing director of German Mangold group;
  • Sayyora Ayupova — independent board member of "Inarctica", managing partner of "Kompass Directors".

Shareholders' representatives:

  • Ulugbek Mukhtarov — deputy executive director of the Reconstruction and Development Fund;
  • Zukhriddin Ibragimov — head of the fiscal risk assessment department at the Ministry of Economy and Finance;
  • Matthew John Ansell — Franklin Templeton representative, nominated by the trustee of Uzbekistan's National Investment Fund.

Who stepped down

The term of Odilbek Isakoff, who headed the board since January 2024, was terminated early.

His profile is equally notable: UMED graduate, bachelor's degree in business economics from Manchester Metropolitan University, master's degree in finance from the University of Strathclyde, CFA certificate holder. He worked at the National Bank of Uzbekistan, Co-op Insurance Group in Manchester, and at HSBC in London, where he was engaged in debt capital markets from 2006–2018.

From 2019 to 2023 — deputy minister of finance, responsible for international credit ratings and state debt management. During this period, Uzbekistan entered the international capital market with sovereign eurobonds.

Ownership structure

40% of SQB shares are owned by Uzbekistan's National Investment Fund (UzNIF) under Franklin Templeton management. In May 2026, UzNIF listed its securities on the London Stock Exchange.

This explains the presence of a Franklin Templeton representative on the board and the overall direction of reforms: the bank is being prepared for sale according to standards understood by international investors.

Information about other banks in Uzbekistan and their performance is published in open sources from the regulator.

This material is for informational purposes only.