SEOUL (Dow Jones) – State-run Korea Development Bank said Thursday it bought an 82.35% stake in the Uzbekistan unit of Royal Bank of Scotland Group in its latest move to grow its presence in central Asia.

The Korean bank paid $16.5 million to the RBS Group, which put its Uzbekistan affiliate up for sale as part of its restructuring plan, a person familiar with the matter told Dow Jones Newswires.

“KDB [has been running] UzKDB since 2006 with the aim of occupying the Central Asia region’s [banking market] where there is an increasing demand for resources development financing. KDB will merge RBS Uz with UzKDB in 2012 to foster it to become the biggest foreign bank there,” KDB said in a statement.

RBS Uz had $330 million in assets as of end-2010 and focuses on trade financing, foreign exchange and deposit services for global companies doing business in Uzbekistan. The rest of the Uzbek bank is owned by the National Bank of Foreign Economic Activity of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

UzKDB Bank was incorporated in 1997, and today provides a wide range of commercial and retail services, represented at the local market, including deposits for individual and corporate clients, project financing, trade financing and assets management. It is participant of the State deposit insurance program and all deposits in the bank are guaranteed by State Deposits Insurance Fund.