Post-event round-up

Russia & CIS Trade & Export Finance Conference 2015

Moscow, Russia | Baltschug Kempinski February 17, 2015

“Very interesting conference which gives ideas regarding additional opportunities in trade & export finance even during a crisis period.”A Semenova, Unipec

“Great place to understand the current situation and meet new business partners and friends.”S Chukei, Belagroprombank

“The conference proved once again that it definitely is the venue where opinions are exchanged on the trade & export finance business in Russia.”S Karmalito, HSBC

“Definitely a conference that should not be missed.”A Filippov, Commerzbank

“A timely update & greater insight of what is going on in the region.”A Ugoral, Commerzbank

2015’s VITAL STATISTICS

deLegATeS ATTended

180COMPAnIeS

rePreSenTed

97COunTrIeS

rePreSenTed

16

Russia & CIS Trade & Export Finance Conference 2015The Russia & CIS Trade & Export Finance Conference returned to Moscow in 2015 for its 8th year, featuring as the only event of its kind on the trade finance calendar.

With recent international sanctions raising many questions over trade and exports flowing in and out of Russia, the conference provided a crucial forum for open debate between business and finance leaders from across Russia and beyond.

“The GTR conference in Moscow has been a very valuable event on trade finance. It brings insight from the most prominent and influencing market players.”O Rink, Interfax-Dun&Bradstreet

SeCTOrS rePreSenTed In 2015

48% COrPOrATeS & TrAderS28% BAnkS & FInAnCIerS5% eCAS & MuLTILATerALS5% LAwyerS4% COnSuLTAnTS

4% nOn-BAnk FInAnCIerS2% InSurerS & rISk AnALySTS2% gOVT OrgS & PuBLIC BOdIeS2% SOLuTIOn PrOVIderS

48%

28%

OvERvIEw

2015 In pIcturesru

SSIA 77%

eurO

PeAuSTrIABeLAruSCzeCh rePuBLICdenMArkFInLAndgerMAnySLOVAkIASwITzerLAndThe neTherLAndSukrAIneuk

21%

reST

OF

The

wOr

Ld

hOng kOngSIngAPOreuAeuSA

2%

REGIONS REPRESENTED IN 2015

2015’s COnFerenCe wAS SuPPOrTed By

OvERvIEw

SPeAkerS InCLuded

●● Alexander Prosviryakov, Treasury & Commodities Manager, PwC Russia

●● Anna Ponomareva, Managing Director, Trade & Export Finance Department, VTB

●● Anton Zur, Head of ECA Finance, Sberbank

●● Arseniy Ulchenkov, Head, Corporate Finance, Russneft

●● Artem Pozdnyakov, Head, Corporate Finance, Norilsk Nickel

●● Chris Hurd, Head of Global Banking Russia, HSBC

●● Daria Kim, Head of Corporate Finance & Treasury, Freight One

●● Dina Merkulova, Director, Financial Institutions & ECAs, International & Trade Finance, Alfa Bank

●● Dmitry Kuryshev, First Vice President, Global Trade Finance, Chief Representative, Russia ABC International Bank

●● Dmitry Minaev, Managing Director, International Trade Finance, Alfa Bank

●● Georg Gruber, Director, Business Development, Global Trade & Export Finance, Raiffeisen Bank International

●● Georgy Smirnov, Head, Treasury, Nordgold

●● Hanieh Ferdowsi, Director, International Business Development, Exiar

●● Igor Emelyanov, Managing Director, Trade & Export Finance Department, VTB

●● Igor Ostreyko, Managing Director, Trade & Export Finance Department, VTB

●● Irina Danilova, Head, Treasury, Rosatom

●● Jan Randolph, Director, Sovereign Risk, IHS

●● Julia Osadchaya, Partner, KIAP Law

●● Leonid Sirota, Global Head of Trade & Export Finance, VTB

●● Lou Naumovski, Vice President & General Director, Moscow Representative Office, Kinross Gold Corporation

●● Marc Partridge, Managing Director, Co-Head of Project & Structured Finance, Gazprombank

●● Mark Norris, Partner, Sullivan & Worcester

●● Marko Gucijan, Head of Capital Financing Russia, HSBC

●● Matti Airaksinen, Senior Adviser, Bank Risks, Finnvera

●● Natalia Savina, Director, Head of Transaction Services Sales, ING Commercial Banking

●● Nikolay Shapilov, Head of Export Department, JSC

●● Oleg Krylov, Director, Head of Transaction Services, ING Commercial Banking

●● Olga Rink, Chief Executive Officer, Interfax-Dun&Bradstreet

●● Peter Gloushkov, Head of International Legal, Tatneft

●● Ralph Lerch, Head of Export Finance, Commerzbank

●● Sergey Karmalito, Head of Export Finance Russia, HSBC

●● Svetlana Gromyko-Piradova, Head of Structured Trade & Export Finance, GTB, UniCredit Bank Russia

●● Thaddeus Stitzman wolff, Regional Director, Eastern Europe, American Trade & Finance Company (Atrafin), President & Chief Executive Officer, Wolff Pershing Capital

●● Thomas Baum, Head of Division, Underwriting & Risk Management, Euler Hermes

●● Yuri Botiuk, Partner, Pinsent Masons

OvERvIEw

180 DELEGATES ATTENDED 2015’S CONFERENCE REPRESENTING THE FOLLOWING ORGANISATIONS

Corporates & Traders

Acron

AgroinvestGroup

Alcatel Lucent

Chemieanlagenbau Chemnitz

Claas Group

DHL

EuroChem

Gama Industrial Plants

Gazprom

Gazpromneft

Inter RAO UES

Kinross Gold Corporation

Liberty House

Lukoil

Magnatek

Medsigroup

Megafon

Nord Gold

Norilsk Nickel

Novolipetsk Steel

Petroholland

Petropavlovsk Iron Ore

Phosagro

Polyus Gold

Power Machines

Rosatom

Rosneft

Rostech

Rusagro Group

Rusal

RZD International

Severstal

Sibur

Sportmaster

Suek

Tatneft

Technopromexport

Texho

TMK

Transmashholding

Turbomach

UAZ

Unipec

Uralkali

VimpelCom

Vorskla Steel

X5 Retail Group

Banks & Financiers

ABC International Bank (ABCIB)

Alfa Bank

Belagroprombank

Belarusbank

Belinvestbank

BHF-BANK

Citi

Commerzbank

Development bank of the Republic of Belarus

FC Otkritie

Gazprombank

HSBC

ING

International Investment Bank

JPMorgan Chase

KfW IPEX-Bank

Nomos Bank

Nordea

Promsvyazbank

Raiffeisen Bank International

RBS

Russneft

Sberbank

Societe Generale

Transcapital Bank

UBI Banca

UniCredit SpA

VTB Bank

Insurers & Risk Managers

Allianz Group Malakut Insurance Brokers

Lawyers

Kiap

Pinsent Masons

Reznik, Gagarin & Partners

Sullivan & Worcester

Solution Providers

Bolero International The Cool Connection

Non-bank Financiers

Atrafin

DF Deutsche Forfait

London Forfaiting Company

Siemens Financial Services

ECAs & Multilaterals

EKF

Euler Hermes

Exiar - Export Insurance Agency of Russia

Export-Import Bank of the Slovak Republic (Eximbanka SR)

Finnvera

Govt orgs & public bodies

ICC Russia Lugano Commodity Trading Association

Consultants

Fidinam IHS PWC

OvERvIEw

Russian corporates remain optimistic

The economic difficulties currently facing Russia have not dramatically affected the country’s companies, according to speakers at GTR’s 8th Russia and CIS Trade and Export Finance Conference.

Corporate panellists speaking at the conference explained that efficiency maximisation strategies started several years ago have made them better equipped to deal with the turmoil prompted by Western trade sanctions and record-low oil prices.

“Our strategy is based on increasing business efficiency and maximising profitability. From US$4bn working capital at the end of 2012, our goal since 2013 has been to reduce it by US$2bn by the end of 2016. We focused on advanced payment factoring. We started getting advanced payments, as one of the conditions of signing contracts,” said Artem Pozdnyakov, head of corporate finance at Norilsk Nickel.

Other panellists representing corporates such as Norgold, Tatneft and Rosatom also said they started cost efficiency programmes back in 2013, and the current crisis has not caused many issues.

Even at oil and gas companies, the mood is positive. “For oil producing companies it’s not the low oil prices which is the problem. The Russian government takes most of our revenue as taxes so it’s the state that loses more when prices are low, not the companies themselves.

“For companies it’s the long-term trend that matters. Currently, we have seen the prices go down but sooner or later the prices will reverse and we expect that to happen by June 2015; we are quite optimistic,” said Russneft head of corporate finance Arseniy Ulchenkov.

Difficult economic conditions have even had a positive impact for some Russian companies. At Norgold, head of treasury Georgy Smirnov explains that geopolitical instability

has helped to stop the drop in gold prices, and because most trade is made in dollars, the devaluation of local currencies has given the company a competitive advantage.

“A year before the crisis the gold prices had already fallen down significantly so we had to work on our working capital programme. In one year we minimised all possible costs and we are still doing that. The overall political instability affected the gold prices, which stopped slipping down even more.

“We are planning to invest in the construction of more mining facilities in Africa and we will develop one field in Russia. We have tested our estimates and with all the negative changes the project’s profitability has gone up. The negative impact we might have seen as individuals have not actually impacted us in the gold market,” he pointed out.

However, Russian companies, particularly state-owned, remain wary of a possible drop in investment. “What worries everyone is declining investment. As a state-owned company it’s a sensitive question. Whether it lasts six months or a year, our job is to minimise costs,” said Irina Danilova, head of treasury at Rosatom.

Out of all the corporate panellists speaking at the conference, Danilova was the only pessimistic one, pointing out that Rosatom is looking at diversifying funding methods to maintain working capital. “70% of Rosatom’s portfolio is in roubles, and the amount of lending won’t be very high with such high interest rates so banks should take a different approach,” she added.

In terms of trade flows, companies have seen a lot of demand from Southeast Asia, the Middle East and South America, but again don’t believe this is linked to the trade sanctions from Europe and the US.

“Our sales in Asia have doubled but it’s not due to the situation, just the general trend,” explained Poxdnyakov.

PRESS RELEASE

For more information please speak to a member of the GTR team or email events@gtreview.com

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East Africa Trade & Commodity Finance Conference 2015May 14-15, 2015Windsor Golf Hotel & Country Club Nairobi, Kenya

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UK Trade & Export Finance Conference 2015June 9, 2015The ICC Birmingham, UK

North America Trade & Export Finance Conference 2015June 18, 2015The Convene Old Slip New York, US

SEPTEMBERGTR Asia Trade Finance Week 2015September 8-10, 2015Singapore

Global Commodity Trade Finance Conference 2015September 29, 2015Lugano Convention Centre Lugano, Switzerland

OCTOBERMexico Trade & Export Finance Conference 2015w/c October 5, 2015Mexico

Mauritius Trade Finance Conference 2015Mauritius

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NOVEMBERWest Coast Trade & Export Finance Conference 2015w/c November 16, 2015San Jose, US

China Trade & Export Finance Conference 2015China

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Malaysia Trade & Export Finance Conference 2015November 5, 2015Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

2015

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NOTES

sponsorship opportunities

Beatrice BoldiniBusiness Development Manager bboldini@gtreview.com +44 (0)20 8772 3009

speaking opportunities

george MitchellSenior Conference Producer gmitchell@gtreview.com +44 (0)20 8772 3017

partnership & Media opportunities

grant naughtonMarketing Manager gnaughton@gtreview.com +44 (0)20 8772 3013