Reuters reports that Uzbek startup Uzum, the largest player in the fintech and e-commerce sector in Uzbekistan, is considering listing on the London Stock Exchange. This was announced in an interview with the agency by the company’s co-founder Nikolai Seleznyov.
According to him, London has been added to the list of potential venues for an IPO, alongside the Nasdaq (New York), Abu Dhabi, and Hong Kong exchanges, where interest in Uzum has grown following investments by Chinese company Tencent.
Founded in 2022, Uzum quickly became Uzbekistan’s most valuable startup, valued at $1.5 billion. In August, the company raised $70 million in equity capital from Tencent and the American fund VR Capital, becoming the first “unicorn” (startup unicorn) in the country’s history. Currently, about 17 million Uzbeks use Uzum’s services every month.
Seleznyov noted that the initial public offering (IPO) is planned for 2027, but it is too early to discuss a specific target valuation.
“If we were to go public on the London Stock Exchange, we would definitely consider the FTSE 100,” he said.
During the latest round of funding, Uzum also attracted the attention of investors from the UK and the Middle East. According to Seleznyov, many of them are interested not only in the company itself, but also in the economic potential of Uzbekistan, which in recent years has been actively pursuing reforms under the leadership of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, opening the country to international investment.
Seleznyov explained that Uzum is considering a foreign IPO due to liquidity and investor base structure issues that affect the company’s valuation. At the same time, he stressed that strengthening its position in the domestic market remains a priority:
“We are not seeking overly rapid geographical expansion. First, we want to truly conquer and dominate Uzbekistan to prove that we are capable of building a system that is competitive on a global level,” he said.
Thus, as Reuters notes, Uzum is not just a fast-growing fintech startup, but a symbol of a new wave of technological development in Uzbekistan, demonstrating the growing confidence of international investors in the country’s economic reforms.
In less than a month, professional market participants bought three-year series K bonds of the international financial service NovaPay (TM NovaPay) for a total amount of UAH 100 million.
According to the company’s press release on Tuesday, the issuer was NovaPay’s subsidiary, NovaPay Credit LLC, and the bonds were placed on the Perspektyva stock exchange.
Their term of circulation is until August 6, 2028, with an annual offer, interest is paid quarterly, and the nominal rate in the first year of circulation is 18% per annum.
During 2023-2024, NovaPay issued nine series of bonds, and in 2025, it issued the 10th series and has already announced the issuance of the 12th series, “L.” The volume of each series is UAH 100 million, with the exception of one series, which is UAH 90 million.
Securities of all series, except for three, are used for REPO operations as an alternative to bank deposits and are available for purchase in the NovaPay mobile app. Series C and I bonds, as well as series K bonds, were placed among institutional investors for a total amount of UAH 190 million.
NovaPay was founded in 2001 as an international financial service, part of the Nova group (“Nova Poshta”), providing online and offline financial services at Nova Poshta branches. According to the website, the company employs about 13,000 people in more than 3,600 Nova Poshta branches throughout Ukraine. According to the National Bank of Ukraine, the company accounts for about 35% of the total volume of domestic money transfers.
NovaPay was the first non-bank financial institution in Ukraine to receive an extended license from the NBU in 2023, which allowed it to open accounts and issue cards, and was also the first among non-banks to launch its own financial application with a wide range of financial services at the end of last year.
According to the prospectus, NovaPay Credit plans to increase its interest income to UAH 802.1 million this year and to UAH 1 billion 515.1 million next year, and to earn UAH 518.9 million and UAH 1 billion 30.6 million in net profit, respectively.
Last year, the company’s net profit grew to UAH 89.2 million from UAH 40.3 million a year earlier, with revenue growing to UAH 285.6 million from UAH 95.6 million.
On September 16, the leasing company ULF-Finance LLC, part of Sergey Tigipko’s TAS Group, began a public offering of five-year bonds of series F1 and E1 with a total nominal value of UAH 150 million and UAH 250 million, respectively, on the PFTS stock exchange.
“The financial resources raised from the placement of bonds are planned to be used in full (100%) to finance an increase in the volume of financial leasing services,” the prospectuses note.
According to the prospectuses, coupon income on F1 series bonds is paid upon redemption at a rate of 20% per annum, while E1 series bonds provide for an annual offer and quarterly interest payments, with a nominal yield of 19% per annum in the first year of circulation.
The nominal value of each issue is UAH 1,000, and the placement period is until August 23 of the following year. There is no information about transactions concluded on the exchange yet.
According to the prospectuses, before entering the market with new issues, the company placed 611,917 thousand bonds of series A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, A1, B1, C1, D1.
The ULF-Finance website states that the company has been operating since 2011 and has been part of the TAS Group since 2017, whose members also include TAScombank and Universal Bank. ULF-Finance provides financial, operational, and reverse leasing services for transport, special equipment, and machinery. Among its clients, the company, which is represented in 17 cities, mentions Ukrzaliznytsia and Nova Poshta.
ULF-Finance’s revenue in the first half of 2025 grew by 46.9% to UAH 260.40 million, while net profit decreased by 33.6% to UAH 37.62 million.
In its prospectus, the company forecasts an increase in revenue this year to UAH 838.84 million and next year to UAH 1,095.11 million, with net profit growing to UAH 113.76 million and UAH 186.70 million, respectively.
The international financial service NovaPay (TM NovaPay) has registered the issue of Series K bonds with a total nominal value of UAH 100 million and a maturity date of August 6, 2028, which is the third issue for institutional investors, according to a press release issued by the company on Thursday.
According to the press release, the issuer is again NovaPay’s subsidiary, NovaPay Credit LLC, with interest payments to be made quarterly at a nominal rate of 18% per annum.
The company recalled that it had already sold bonds of series “C” and “I” among institutional investors for UAH 190 million.
Prior to this, NovaPay issued nine series of bonds between 2023 and 2024, and in 2025, it issued the 10th series and has already announced the issue of the 12th series, series L, also with a total nominal value of UAH 100 million. However, securities of all series, except for three, are used for REPO operations as an alternative to bank deposits and are available for purchase in the NovaPay mobile application.
NovaPay was founded in 2001 as an international financial service, part of the Nova group (“Nova Poshta”), and provides online and offline financial services at Nova Poshta branches. According to the website, the company employs about 13,000 people in more than 3,600 Nova Poshta branches throughout Ukraine. According to the National Bank of Ukraine, the company accounts for about 35% of the total volume of domestic money transfers.
NovaPay was the first non-bank financial institution in Ukraine to receive an extended license from the NBU in 2023, which allowed it to open accounts and issue cards, and was also the first among non-banks to launch its own financial application with a wide range of financial services at the end of last year.
According to the prospectus, NovaPay Credit plans to increase its interest income to UAH 802.1 million this year and to UAH 1 billion 515.1 million next year, and to earn UAH 518.9 million and UAH 1 billion 30.6 million in net profit, respectively.
Last year, the company’s net profit grew to UAH 89.2 million from UAH 40.3 million a year earlier, with revenue growing to UAH 285.6 million from UAH 95.6 million.
In early September, the National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC) registered the issue of series “B” bonds by Galka Trading House LLC (Lviv), a subsidiary of coffee and coffee products manufacturer Galka, in the amount of UAH 50 million.
According to information in the NSSMC register, the nominal value of the bonds is UAH 1,000, but information on the term of circulation and yield rate is not yet available.
The audit report for the first quarter states that at the end of March this year, as at the end of last year, bonds of the debut issue of TD Galka series “A” with a total nominal value of UAH 45.004 million were in circulation, while the issuer’s account had UAH 4.996 million.
The decision to issue new bonds without a public offering for another UAH 50 million was made by the participants on June 18 this year.
The Ukrainian-English joint venture Galka LLC (until 2004 – Galka Ltd.) was founded on the basis of the Lviv coffee factory. It is engaged in the production and sale of coffee, coffee products and coffee substitutes, and tea under the Galka trademark. It owns 90% of Galka Trading House LLC, and the remaining 10% is owned by Galinvest PZNFI under the management of Western Investment Group AMC.
According to the audit report, the ultimate beneficiaries of TD Galka through the Dutch company Nedinvestment B.V. are Volodymyr Pasternak – 25.42%, Yuriy Dubovoy and Yaroslav Volynets – 20.91% each, and their children Oleg and Andriy, who received 4.51% each in the period after November 2021, as well as Dutch citizen Jan Lavoie François with a 13.74% stake.
In the first quarter of 2025, TD Galka reduced its net profit by 10.2% to UAH 9.99 million, while its revenue increased by 64.2% to UAH 254.38 million.
In 2024, the company increased its net profit by 48.3% to UAH 56.65 million and its revenue by 17.2% to UAH 766.30 million.
According to its 2024 report, the parent company had five bond issues maturing in 2030-2034 with a total value of UAH 212.13 million.
The parent company’s net profit in 2024 increased by 36.2% to UAH 49.84 million, and revenue by 7.7% to UAH 86,186.3 million.
Nova Poshta, the leader in express delivery in Ukraine and part of the Nova Group, has fully placed its Series H bonds with a total nominal value of UAH 1 billion after the redemption of Series E bonds with the same nominal value on July 30.
The National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC) approved the relevant bond issue report on August 19, 2025.
The bonds have a par value of UAH 1,000, with 1 million bonds issued without a public offering. No other details of the issue have been disclosed.
In May this year, the NSSMC approved the placement of two new issues of Nova Poshta bonds – series G and H with a nominal value of UAH 1 billion each. The company declared that the funds raised would be used to develop its terminal network (35%), invest in IT (15%), BDF containers and motor vehicles (30%), and packaging for parcels (20%).
In July 2025, Nova Poshta fully placed Series G bonds with a total nominal value of UAH 1 billion.
As of mid-2021, Nova Poshta had obligations under three bond issues of Series E,
“F” and “G” bonds in the amount of UAH 995.82 million maturing on July 30 of this year, UAH 998.45 million maturing on June 1 of next year, and UAH 999.38 million maturing on May 2, 2027. The interest rate on bonds “F” and “G” is 16% per annum. The company already has five redeemed bond issues since August 2020 for a total amount of UAH 3.6 billion.
In the second quarter of 2025, the company increased its unconsolidated net profit by 2.6% compared to the same period in 2024, to UAH 905.45 million, with revenue growing by 22.9% to UAH 12 billion 712.14 million. In total, in the first half of this year, Nova Poshta’s net profit decreased by 19.6% to UAH 1 billion 195.74 million, with revenue growing by 22.1% to UAH 24 billion 571.27 million.
The company’s equity for the first half of 2025 increased by 6.1% to UAH 12.30 billion, while liabilities increased by 2.8% to UAH 20.56 billion.
The main activity of Nova Poshta remains the express delivery of documents, parcels, and palletized large-size cargo. The company is the leader in express delivery in Ukraine. Its ultimate beneficial owners are Volodymyr Poperechnyuk and Vyacheslav Klimov.
