Mintos pauses Kazakhstan loans amid political and social unrest
Mintos has removed access to loans issued in Kazakhstan due to social unrest in the country.
It comes as Kazakhstan declared a state of emergency last week amid days of protests and clashes with police over fuel prices and the political system.
The alternative lending marketplace said five lending companies have €83m (£70m) of outstanding loans backed by investors.
Mintos said it has taken action to protect investor exposure by removing all loans and companies from Kazakhstan from its primary market and pausing the placement of new loans.
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The secondary market will remain open though so investors with these loans can still sell them if they can find a buyer.
“Once these five companies are removed from the Mintos strategies as a measure of protection for less experienced and new investors, investments in loans by these companies will not be available for the standard cashout,” Mintos said.
“We are temporarily removing the companies from the Mintos strategies to limit new investors’ exposure to these loans, and consequently, existing investments in these loans will be shown as ‘unavailable for cashout’.
“Liquidity is still possible by trading on the Mintos secondary market and this solution will be in place until we observe that the situation in Kazakhstan has stabilised.”
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