Only one bidder of the scandal-hit Kabul Bank steps forward

Three domestic and two international groups were approved through the Expression of Interest stage for the purchase of New Kabul Bank shares, but only one stepped forward to bid.

The bidders approved included, Ali akbar Zhawandai Consortium, Forbes and Manhattan, Kru Capital Partners, Afghanistan International Bank and the Amania Group.

The only bid received was from the Ali Akbar Zhanwandai Consortium, involving Afghan investors.

A team including representatives from the Ministry of Finance, Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB), the Ministry of Justice and New Kabul Bank will evaluate technical bids and business plans.

The price bids — weighted 70-30 — will be opened on March 13 and the winner announced, subject to Cabinet approval on April 7.

Kabul Bank was seized by the government in 2010 after the exposure of a staggering $900 million fraud, which led the International Monetary Fund to temporarily halt its hundreds of millions of dollars of loans to the country.

Renamed New Kabul Bank, the institution was bailed out by the government.

In November last year a foreign-funded inquiry found a sophisticated network of corruption that saw vast sums of money smuggled abroad as well as political interference in criminal proceedings.

Twenty-two people have been charged with causing the bank’s collapse through fraud and corruption, and a special tribunal is expected to deliver its verdict this month.