Twenty-eight year old Jenishbek Abdrahmanov lives in Jalal-Abad, in Kyrgyzstan’s southern Jalal-Abad oblast with his wife, four-year-old daughter, and one-year-old son. He has a management degree from Osh State University and is a wholesale trader of one of Kyrgyz company’s products. 

Jenishbek is a successful young entrepreneur, and he and his wife always dreamed of owning their own house or apartment for their young family. But they were held back by high prices in Kyrgyzstan’s housing market.

But in July 2013, Kompanion Financial Group launched a brand new housing loan product aimed at improving access to mortgage loans, home construction loans and home improvement loans for families in low and middle income brackets. Jenishbek and his family were perfect candidates for the new housing product, and applied soon after the product’s launch.

Soon after their application was submitted to Kompanion, Jenishbek and his family were one of the first families to receive Kompanion’s housing loan disbursements. In August, they purchased their first apartment, and one month later they are comfortably moved into a secure, comfortable apartment with room for everyone.

“We have been married for five years now and the whole time we were renting apartments, which is really not very comfortable. We had to move often, and some conflicts occurred with landlords. And paying for something that you will never own is also straining. It’s better to pay higher amounts for your own house than lower amounts for a leased apartment,” said Jenishbek.

“We found an apartment that was suitable for us, but our savings weren’t enough to buy it. If we wanted to buy the apartment we would need to work for several more years, and it’s impossible to predict how housing prices will change over such a period of time,” said Jenishbek.

“I could have also withdrawn money from my business, but it would have had a big impact on my revenue. And as you know, my business is the main source of income for my family while my wife is on maternity leave,” he added. 

For Jenishbek, the launch of Kompanion’s housing loan couldn’t have come at a better time. And he has high hopes for the housing loan product and Kyrgyzstan’s economic future.

“I think the housing loans will become popular. In the beginning I was afraid to buy a house on credit. I had some distrust because I had never conducted a deal like that. But when I got my loan and bought my apartment I started to recommend this loan to my friends, and now some of them are interested already and want to apply to Kompanion,” Jenishbek answered when asked about his thoughts about the future. 

“These loans are a really great help for Kyrgyzstan’s people.”