SUPERVISORY BOARD
Our Supervisory Board brings a breadth of expertise and dedication to providing access to responsible financial services.
Chikako Kuno
MEMBER OF SUPERVISORY BOARD
Chikako Kuno
Ms. Kuno also served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Chile and Honduras. She holds a Master’s Degree in international economics from The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
IBROHIMOVA MALIKA
MEMBER OF SUPERVISORY BOARD
IBROHIMOVA MALIKA
Malika joined FINCA Tajikistan in July 2020 as an External Director of the Supervisory Board. In 2004 she had started her professional career in development aid and finance with GIZ by supporting microfinance services in the rural areas of Tajikistan. New for Tajikistan, at that times, individual moveable/immovable asset-based lending technologies, new credit products, modern management approaches, MIS, several international ratings and the First National Wholesaling Apex Institution were successfully piloted and scaled-up for 12 partnering MFIs.
In five years she left GIZ project as a Principal Expert to get her Master Degree in Finance in USA. Following her MBA graduation from Kent State University in 2011, Malika joined the Swiss Cooperation Office in Tajikistan. Currently she continues working as a Senior National Program Coordinator responsible for Economic sector. She is supervising a pipeline of 12 development projects in the areas of financial sector development, financial infrastructure, electronic digital finance, access to finance, financial inclusion, SMEs advisory, business enabling environment, trade facilitation, textile and tourism development, business acceleration and incubation, macroeconomic development, fiscal policy, external debt management, implemented by multilaterals and UN organizations.
Malika has attended degree and non-degree programs at colleges, universities and business schools in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, USA and Frankfurt School of Finance and Management.
Daniel Berg
MEMBER OF SUPERVISORY BOARD
DANIEL BERG
Daniel Berg has nearly 30 years career in development and finance. Following graduation from Rutgers University (NJ USA) Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, Dan joined the US department of Treasury working on economic policy issues in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. He joined the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, first on the board of directors serving for the United States, and later the Banking department.
He moved from London to Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Albania Bulgaria, and finally Serbia. Over this time he assumed more managerial responsibilities, ending his work at EBRD managing a team of 45 professionals and a portfolio of nearly 4 billion Euro. During his time at EBRD, Dan also served as a board member on companies including in the insurance, banking, energy, and property sectors. Since leaving EBRD, Dan has taking on a variety of consulting roles focusing primarily on sustainable development.
Jerrold Smelcer
MEMBER OF SUPERVISORY BOARD
JERROLD SMELCER
For more than two decades, Jerrold has worked in Africa, Caucuses, Central Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East with a focus on institutional development, financial performance, risk management, process optimization and business model reengineers.
Jerrold has been responsible for driving strategic development with finance institutions engaged in rapid growth economies, and has led structural turnarounds to offset a host of countrywide operational challenges that included economic recession, significant local currency devaluations, and high levels of sector wide non-performing loans.
He has been recognized by the United States of America President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation for support of financial sector development in Azerbaijan, as well as IFC and Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation for his contributions in establishment of the first National Credit Bureau of Tajikistan.
Jerrold has attended universities in Austria, France, Sweden, and the United States; with an MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management.
Zar Wardak
CHAIRMAN OF SUPERVISORY BOARD
Zar Wardak
Prior to becoming Division Director, Zar served as Regional Director for the Middle East and South Asia Region. Under Zar’s leadership, FINCA’s operations in the MESA region expanded to cover two full-service microfinance institutions and one bank, each of which now has more than 25,000 clients. FINCA Impact Finance has also become a catalyst for women’s economic empowerment in the MESA region—61% of FINCA Afghanistan clients are women; in Jordan, that number is 92%. Most recently, Zar helped introduce SimSim, an e-wallet now being used by over 100,000 previously unbanked or underbanked users in Pakistan. SimSim launched in 2016 and has contributed to financial inclusion in Pakistan while keeping FINCA at the forefront of Fintech innovation.
Zar previously served as CEO of FINCA Afghanistan. Under her leadership, the company was able to achieve sustainability within three years. She implemented profitable microfinance solutions designed for local conditions—notably, FINCA Afghanistan was the first microfinance institution in the country to offer Islamic banking services. FINCA Afghanistan now serves more than 25,000 clients from 21 branches across the country, largely due to Zar’s successful stint as CEO.
Prior to joining FINCA, Zar worked as a financial services industry consultant in Afghanistan and served as Regional Sales Integration Director for Citibank in Texas before that. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Business from Southwestern College in Kansas and a Master of Science in Peace Operations from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.
Zar also serves as Chairperson of the Afghanistan Microfinance Association and Chairperson of the Board for FINCA Jordan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Kosovo.
FINCA Tajikistan Management Team
Our management team brings vast experience, professional skills and expertise from various industry backgrounds.
Sergey Kim
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Sergey Kim
Experience: Sergey was COO of FINCA Tajikistan since 2011. He has 12 years experience with FINCA and 18+ years experience in the microfinance field.
Sergey started his career at FINCA as an Intern of FINCA International HQ in Washington DC in 2005. Starting 2006 worked as a Branch and Regional Manager in FINCA Kyrgyzstan, Kosovo, and Tajikistan. Prior to FINCA, since 1998, was involved in UNDP microfinance programs in Uzbekistan working as a Loan Officer, Project Assistant, Training Coordinator and Project Manager.
Education: Degree in Economics majoring in “Finance and Credit”, MA Degree in International Development from the University of Denver, CO USA. Completed Stonier Graduate School of Banking of the American Bankers Association.
Amid Tashrifbekov
CHIEF OPERATION OFFICER
Amid Tashrifbekov
He has a diploma on Finance and Credit from Khorog State University and MBA degree from Steinbeis University of Berlin. Amid is a certified expert in SME finance from Frankfurt School of Management and certified Peer of the Digital Frontiers Institute.
He used to work as a Board Member at AMFOT for 3 years and currently he acts as a Finance and Banking advisor for the Tajik British Chamber of Commerce and Board of Director of Central Asian Stock Exchange of Tajikistan.
DADABAEV FIRDAVS
LEGAL COUNSEL
DADABAEV FIRDAVS
Firdavs has over 18 years of experience in the field of jurisprudence in various organizations, both in governmental and non-governmental organization.
He began his career as a specialist in the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Tajikistan and during the period of his activity he achieved already significant results as the Head of the General Department of International Legal Relations of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Tajikistan.
Having a versatile approach to his activities and extensive legal experience, Firdavs applied in practice these skills being as a legal consultant in projects of GIZ and other large international organizations as well as worked as a lawyer in the subunit of the Russian Ministry of Defense in Tajikistan. Firdavs also has legal experience in the hotel business, providing legal advisory services for the Sheraton Hotel and subsequently the Hilton in Tajikistan.
He was awarded various charters from organizations in which he worked and a medal of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Tajikistan. He has the rank of Counselor of Justice, 1stgrade.
He is a co-author of books and the author of several published articles on legal issues. He has experience in teaching at universities of the Republic of Tajikistan.
Abunasr Sharifov
Chief Financial Officer
Abunasr Sharifov
Abunasr Sharifov has 27 years of experience in the banking system,out of which 19 years in senior positions in Finance, Treasury and Banking. He has extensive experience in management, including financial management, accounting, reporting and business management. He has previously worked in various senior management positions, including Chief Accountant, Head, Treasury and Financial Operations and Deputy Management Board at leading banks in Tajikistan – Amonatbank, Spitamen Bank and First Microfinance Bank.
Abunasr has a diploma in finance from the Faculty of Finance and Economics of the Tajik National University, a diploma in mathematics from the Tajik State Pedagogical Institute, a certified accountant-practitioner (CAP) of the Eurasian Council of Certified Accountants and Auditors. He is a certified participant in the Partnership Program of the National Bank of Tajikistan and the Savings Banks Fund for International Finanzgruppe cooperation.
FINCA Impact Finance Global Leadership
The FINCA Impact Finance global Management Team leads a global organization of more than 12,000 employees