Center-invest Bank recently held a business breakfast for businesswomen in Sochi. Supporting women in business is a priority for the bank as part of its commitment to encouraging enterprise.
The event in Sochi was attended by twenty successful female business owners. Meeting in a friendly atmosphere, the women shared their experiences of running their own businesses, spoke about their achievements and current projects, and discussed success factors for women.
Irina Kardakova, for example, spoke about how she went from a career in teaching to realizing her dream of setting up her own business. Her coffee shop, Kofeinik, offers customers a relaxing and comfortable environment, as well as masterclasses for children. Margarita Smirnova has been in the furniture business for ten years, but she is successful in various areas of business, and is always looking to the future. She plans to enter new markets with new entrepreneurial ideas. Natalia Vasyutchenko was a school physics teacher for many years, but now works in the hotel business and is a successful property investor. Yulia Manukyan went into the family business, Yunamaks, and is responsible for major landscaping projects. Irina Chernaya has had a dry-cleaning business for over ten years, helping the people of Sochi take good care of their clothes.
During the networking event, the businesswomen shared their success stories and learnt about the different stages in their individual business journeys and the challenges they have each overcome. The main topics of discussion included: business succession, staff training, working with staff, delegation, customer relations, and social responsibility. The event was also an opportunity for the attendees to see new potential for collaboration and new ways in which to take forward their own projects.
Tatiana Dremina, Center-invest Bank’s Deputy Director for Business Development in Krasnodar Krai, noted, "Business ladies today are creative leaders, successful managers and responsible partners. At Center-invest Bank, this is borne out by the fact that there are no defaults on loans under our Business Loans for Women programme."
The unique Business Loans for Women programme was launched by Center-invest Bank in 2012. Since that time, the bank has lent 427 businesswomen a total of RUB635m on preferential terms. As part of this programme, the bank organizes business breakfasts for businesswomen. Twenty-five such events have been held to date, in Rostov-on-Don, Krasnodar, Taganrog, Sochi and Volgograd, and they have been attended by over 500 proactive and dedicated women.