On 30 June Center-invest Bank hosted a meeting for exporters, which was organised by the Rostov Region’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Rostov Region Ministry for Economic Development.

Officials from the regional authorities and the region’s largest exporters met together in Center-invest Bank’s congress hall. They discussed measures to support and finance exporters, the search for new foreign partners when sanctions are being applied against Russia, and the development of regional infrastructure to support the export market.

The company EKSAR (Russian Agency for Insurance of Export Finance and Investments) was represented at the meeting by Andrei Polyakov, its Managing Director for Regional Development and SME Support. Mr Polyakov spoke about EKSAR’s experience and products for exporters.

At a round table on “Organising Support and Finance for the Rostov Region’s Exporters” the deputy governor of the Rostov Region, Mikhail Chernyshev, said, “Exporters in the SME sector understand that their export businesses are hampered by two main issues: problems with finance, and the political risks that arise from exporting.”

Sergei Smirnov, deputy chairman of the Executive Board of Center-invest Bank, spoke about the results of the bank’s work to support exporters and develop a modern system of export finance. In 2014, the export earnings of the bank’s customers totalled RUB9bn (equivalent). The goods exported included clothes, footwear, toys, boilers, metal structures, foodstuffs and agricultural produce.

“Center-invest Bank is the first in the region to sign an Agreement on Cooperation with EKSAR,” Mr Smirnov said. “This will allow our customers to develop their businesses in new foreign markets and to export their products with insurance support from EKSAR.”

Also during the meeting, the winners of the Rostov Region’s Best Exporter 2014 competition were presented with awards.