Page 36 - Buy Russia - bne IntelliNews monthly magazine April 2017

36 I Special report bne April 2017
Best Export Finance Arranger, Best Supply-chain Finance Bank Citigroup
“For Citi, trade finance has been and will continue to be a core business. Recent geopolitical disturbances, commod- ity market fluctuations and the unpredictable and fragile environment seem to make us ever more relevant for our target market, which places value on Citi’s network, IT platforms and ability to structure solutions and understand risk, across markets,” says Chavdar Rissin, trade cluster head, Central Europe, treasury and trade solutions. “We continue to see more interest in our trade finance offering as competition is withdrawing from many non-core mar- kets. Citi remains one of the very few banks that are truly global, and present in CEE.”
The Central European region has experienced a varying degree of convergence with leading EU economies, Citi says, resulting in significant international trade de-risking with ‘older’ EU countries.
“Cross-border trade is now largely organised around open-account flows, reflecting the integrated supply chain
Chavdar Rissin, trade cluster head, central europe, treasury and trade solutions
within EU,” adds Rissin. “The open-account flows drive
the increasing use of ‘clean’ trade solutions to facilitate international trade, namely the supply chain finance struc- tures, as well as variations of receivables finance, including non-recourse, limited recourse and full recourse. Tradi- tional trade finance products such as letters of guarantee, standby letters of credit and documentary letters of credit still retain relevance, however, for trade related to equip- ment/CapEx/construction projects or trade with more distant locations.”
As corporate clients integrate more into international trade flows, Citi actively grows its trade finance franchise in CEE. “Despite the challenges of the time – Brexit, EU elections with emerging new political phenomena, EU revitalisation, slowing China, to name a few – CEE will remain one of the more dynamic, yet stable, world regions, benefitting from FDI not only from developed markets, but increasingly from China, India and others looking to grow their presence in the EU market,” says Rissin.
Best Trade Finance Bank in Southeast Europe
UniCredit
"International trade in the region is following the general trends of a gradual decrease in traditional trade finance and a growing interest for open account space, ” says Tatiana Kondratieva, Head of CEE Trade Finance, TS, STEF, CEE GTB at UniCredit. “Basically the region is using the whole set of trade finance instruments – traditional as well as supply chain finance, factoring, ECA-covered finance, and so on.”
“We do see huge volumes of transactions spread around the world and there is no specific trend or prevailing export direction. It’s not the geography, but rather the clients’ behaviour that is changing. The clients do not consider trade finance instruments in isolation, they rather look at supply chain sustainability as a way to optimise working capital. The other significant trend is clients increasingly relying on electronic channels to interact with their banks.”
In contrast to many others working in the region, UniCredit says, “We do not see any negative impact [of sanctions]
in the market. When we’re looking at TF business in the region our figures show steady growth.”
Tatiana Kondratieva, head of CEE trade finance, TS, STEF, CEE GTB UniCredit also sees trade finance products more and more
used for local business.
“Basically, two drivers are boosting local trade finance activities in CEE region. The first is commercial demand from local industries, for example from local construction. The second is a local regulation aspect, meaning the local regulation imposed on companies to use for their opera- tions a wide range of trade finance instruments like custom guarantee, excise guarantees, tender guarantees etc.”
The bank’s trade finance credentials are founded on deep product expertise and unparalleled market knowledge in core European markets, supplemented by comprehensive coverage through an extensive international network of branches, representative offices and 4,000 correspondent banks. Trade finance is a pillar of UniCredit’s multi-year plan. It is strategic to its mission as a simple pan-European bank delivering a unique Western, Central and Eastern European network to its extensive client franchise with a fully plugged-in Corporate & Investment Banking Division.
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