OREANDA-NEWS. July 05, 2013. VTB Bank headquarters hosted a video conference, ‘Financing Georgian-Russian Trade. VTB Group’s Potential’ — sponsored by VTB Factoring and VTB Bank (Georgia).

The event was timed to coincide with the resumption of Russian-Georgian trade relations. VTB Group representatives advised the heads of major Russian retail chains and leading Georgian producers on new opportunities for using international factoring in trade between Russia and Georgia.

As part of the event, a tripartite protocol on cooperation was signed by the Georgian wine producer Kindzmaraulis Marani, VTB Bank (Georgia) and VTB Factoring. The document includes a pilot factoring deal to be carried out between Georgia and Russia, where VTB Bank (Georgia) will finance Kindzmaraulis Marani, while VTB Factoring will assume the risks of the Russian debtor. The financing limit is set at about USD 2mln.

This factoring deal is unique for Russia and Georgia because both the financing bank and the factoring company are components of the same financial group, something that makes it possible to create maximum convenience for the customer and to considerably speed up decision-making.
Archil Kontselidze, General Director, VTB Bank (Georgia): "We see a lot of prospects for using international factoring in trade between our two countries. In our view, Georgia’s export-oriented economy needs international factoring as a mechanism for covering export risks and an unsecured financing mechanism. Jointly with VTB Factoring, we can offer our export customers this service package on the most favourable terms."

Anton Musatov, General Director, VTB Factoring: "I am confident that our first agreement with Georgia will help to bring trade between our two countries to a new level. We are glad that our first customer is a well-known company, Kindzmaraulis Marani. We hope that this pilot deal will set a good example for using factoring in the international arena and we invite all interested companies to cooperate with us."

Irakly Talakhadze, Director, Kindzmaraulis Marani: "The Russian market is of strategic importance to my company and we are happy to be able to present all our products to Russian consumers with help from our partners from VTB Group."