Kirill Levin, First Deputy Chairman of the Board of Russian Agricultural Bank (RusAg, the Bank), spoke at the XXII Russian Agroindustrial Exhibition “Golden Autumn – 2020”. His report was dedicated to relationship between international banking and agribusiness exports.
“We analyzed the entire range of foreign trade operations of our clients, ranked the trade flows of the Russian Federation, and identified the main and most promising export directions. As a result, we got a "map of the world", which allows us to build our strategy of taking risks for foreign banks that serve the buyers of our clients’ products, - Kirill Levin said in his speech. - Taking into account this ‘map’, we offer financial services that allow our clients to reduce and even completely eliminate their risks in the transaction, and to ensure the timely receipt of proceeds. Thereby, exporting companies can expand the range of counterparties-buyers and strengthen their positions in foreign sales markets.”
Continuously improving its own expertise in foreign economic activity, RusAg takes an active part in the implementation of existing and in the development of new mechanisms of state support for exporting companies. The Bank works closely with the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia, the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia, the Russian Export Center, EXIAR and other organizations and departments. In addition, the Bank syncs its products and services with government support programs. This interaction allows reducing the cost of implementing the contract for the client, its risks, and also provides optimal conditions for entering new markets and expanding the range of buyers.
Together with the Russian Export Center and within the framework of the acceleration program, RusAg works both with those companies that are already engaged in export and with those that do not have such experience. The goal of this program is to help potential exporters to thoroughly understand the specifics of foreign supplies and open new opportunities for them. Clients can get a study of potential sales markets and their features, up to the selection of buyers. For each participant in the program, the Bank develops an individual roadmap – an action plan for entering an export contract, and then accompanies the activities of the enterprise along this path.
The Competence Center for servicing foreign economic activity successfully operates in the Bank to support agribusiness exporters. It provides consulting support to clients in foreign economic activity according to the “single window” principle. The Center's specialists provide assistance in drafting and carrying out an examination of a foreign trade contract, texts of bank guarantees and letters of credit, making settlements in the form of a letter of credit and collection, that is, directly helping clients to conclude and implement export transactions.
The Center for Industry Expertise of RusAg forecasts the volume of agribusiness exports at the end of 2020 at USD 27-28 billion, which will be 10% over the level of the previous year. The main growth will be provided by both traditional export categories – grains, oilseeds and products of the fat and oil industry, and new export drivers – sugar and meat.
Over the past 20 years, Russian Agricultural Bank has been a reliable partner of the Russian agribusiness. In 9M 2020, the Bank issued RUB 288 billion to agribusiness exporters, which is 78% more than in the same period last year. Today, every eighth exporter of agricultural products is a client of RusAg. By 2024, the Bank plans to increase its share in export services to 35%, that is, every third exporter of agricultural products will be its client.