Building Businesses

2007

Igor Kleimenov is a 45-year old entrepreneur based in Almaty. Having started off as a trader in the porcelain market, Igor switched to producing plastic windows for residential and business buildings, a sound business decision given the rapid expansion of construction work in the city over the past decade. Igor’s success story is remarkable. When he started off in the late 1990s, his assets were barely worth $200. In 2006, his company was worth almost $59,000.

“I knew that production required high level of capitalization and I decided to start saving money from my trade business,” says Igor. In October 2000, he turned to ACF for his first loan, worth $5,000, which he used for buying equipment for production. Six more loans followed over the next few years, with the biggest one being $23,000. Igor was gradually able to build up his business by investing in more equipment and expanding production. Having saved up over $20,000 by 2005 enabled Igor to enter into a partnership with a brokerage firm. The brokerage company collected orders for plastic windows and placed orders with production companies. For Igor, this partnership could not have come at a better time. Soaring real estate prices and a construction boom in Almaty resulted in brisk business for Igor, his company’s equity increasing by 160% within a few years. To accommodate rapidly growing demand, Igor needed to hire more employees and acquire his own workshop, both of which he successfully accomplished as a result of his partnership with ACF. After receiving ACF loans, Igor was able to almost double the number of employees from eight to the present fifteen. Profits soared to $28,600 in 2006.

ACF is more than just a small business lender – it values its relationships with its clients and offers business advisory services and development assistance. Not only did ACF financially enable Igor move towards his long-term goal of expanding his business, its trained personnel were also able to assist him in formulating a business development strategy.

Serving the Local Community

2007

Said Dudaev is a dentist in Almaty, Kazakhstan and one of the ACF’s oldest clients.  Thirty years ago, Said graduated from the Almaty Medical Institute with a diploma in dentistry and stepped into the family business started by his father sixty years ago.  According to the Guinness Book of Records, Dudaev’s family is one of the biggest families of dentists in the country, boasting twenty family members to have joined the profession.

Said’s father served as a dentist in a state clinic during the Soviet period and practiced privately in his house after work.  Private medical service was prohibited then, but Said’s father was a kindhearted person.  “He could not say no to people who were coming to him with pain and hope,” recalls Said.   In Kazakhstan, dentistry occupied a special position, accessible only to the wealthy, even during the Soviet era when medical care was free for all.  Dudaev’s house was located in an impoverished district of Almaty, Malaya Stanitsa. Set up by the Russian Empire as an army fort in 19^th century, this district was later chosen as a resettlement location for those who were forcibly moved from other parts of the Soviet Union during the Second World War.  Dudaev’s family was moved from the Caucasus. 

When Said was thinking about starting his own practice after perestroika, he decided to stay in the same neighborhood.  “Many people suggested that I set up my clinic in a rich neighborhood, but I wanted to make my own contribution to the Dudaev family name.  I could not leave this locality without the services that it had had for years”, says Said. Said’s private clinic, “Dudaev & Co,” is located at his house and employs nine specialists; four of them doctors with substantial experience in state and private clinics.  His wife Roza helps with the accounting and administration work at the clinic. There are many families who remain loyal clients to the family practice. “I hope to see my son, who is a dentistry student right now, serving the same families in the future,” says Said. “And I hope the partnership with ACF continues with him as well. I have built up a good network with the local community, city entrepreneurs and financial institutions. I want him to maintain these relationships; this is a great legacy for him.”    

ACF has been a reliable financial partner for Said. “He has built up an incredible nine-year credit history with ACF” says Zhanna Zhakupova, Said’s first loan officer and now ACF’s Executive Director. “We are happy to help him any time he needs money” she adds.  With ACF loans, Said has updated his equipment, renovated the clinic and bought a specially equipped car to provide door-to-door services to people who could not come to the clinic. Said’s home clinic was small and could not accommodate many people, prompting him to take out an ACF loan for the renovation of another, bigger clinic also located at Malaya Stanitsa. This state-owned clinic was closed during perestroika, leaving the community without medical services.  After a long negotiation, Said concluded a ten-year lease agreement with the local municipality to reopen the clinic.  ACF provided a three-year loan for partial renovation of this building, and people now have access to dentist, massage, hirudotherapy and X-ray services. After the renovation of the entire building is complete, Said wants to increase the variety of medical services that people can receive there, and employ six more people.  ACF plans to help him realize his dreams.  After all, community development is the core of the businesses of both ACF and its clients.