OREANDA-NEWS. November 01, 2010. Taking part in the conference in Ufa was Uniastrum’s Vice President for Small Business Development, Svetlana Chubakova, reported the press-centre of Uniastrum Bank.

The overriding aim of this special event was to spotlight the problems involved in developing small and midsized enterprise in the Republic of Bashkortostan, while also increasing local business community awareness of government SME assistance programs and the financing options available. The conference was organized by media holding Opora-Credit and All-Russia Non-Commercial SME Organization Opora-Russia and was attended by, among others, Russian Minster for Economic Development Elvira Nabiullina, Bashkortostan President Rustem Khamitov, Opora-Russia President Sergey Borisov, and Russian Bank for Development CEO Sergei Kryukov.

Rankings compiled by RosBusinessConsulting news agency show Uniastrum to be one of Russia’s Top-10 SME lenders. In H110 the Bank disbursed over Rb 12 bn to small and midsized businesses, ramping up its SME credit portfolio to around Rb 30.5 bn as of July 1, 2010. As part of its long-term strategy to encourage the development of Russian enterprise, Uniastrum plays an active role in a state-sponsored SME financial assistance program operated by the Russian Bank for Development, partners with local government and foundations in more than 30 regions nationwide, and remains committed to providing banking products and services specially designed to appeal to budget-conscious small and midsized businesses.

“Talking directly with small and medium-sized business owners gives us a better understanding of their real needs, enabling us to offer them focused short and long-term solutions,” says Svetlana Chubakova, Uniastrum Vice President for Small Business Development.