OREANDA-NEWS. November 08, 2013. The Second Annual Conference “Lending Mechanisms for SME in Banks” organized traditionally by Sviaz-Bank (Vnesheconombank Group) and the International Analytics Unlimited Bank Club, with the Russian Auction House and Invest Project LLC acting as partners, was held in Moscow.

Modernization of laws, government support for small and medium-sized enterprises, and loan terms for SMEs at lending institutions were the highlights of this business meeting.

The participants tried to answer the question of what was in store for small and medium-sized enterprises in Russia and other countries. Victor Chetverikov, General Director of the National Rating Agency, acted as moderator of the event.

Vladimir Kiyevsky, ARB Executive Vice President, said that a stagnating economy cuts deep into the growth rates of loans made to small and medium-sized enterprises. In his estimates, lending to SMEs registered a 22.2% growth in 2011 and 15.3% in 2012, and is expected to be at 8.5% in 2013. The existing problems named by the speaker include the shortage of long resources, expensive resources, and the larger share of overdue loans in the SME sector. The speaker also said that banks are trying to reduce their operating costs and other expense, and if they succeed they might lower interest rates by a few points.

Andrei Medvedev, Deputy Director, Department of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Development and Competition, the Ministry of Economic Development, believes that even though growth rates of lending to SMEs are falling, their share declines insignificantly in overall lending.

Pavel Samiyev, Deputy General Director of the EXPERT RA Rating Agency, spoke about changes in the Central Bank’s regulatory measures (254-P and 139-I). He noted the regulator’s pressure on all bank business sectors, except for small business. In his view, this approach must support the market of loans to SMEs. Pavel Samiyev also said that banks use inexpensive funds from individuals’ deposits to develop lending to SMEs.

Yevgeny Tyurikov, Deputy Director of Sviaz-Bank’s Corporate Business Development Department, emphasized the significance of risk assessment for implementation of SME-targeted programs and existing disproportions between loan time frames offered by banks and the real needs of SME operators, particularly as regards investment program funding.

Heike Nonnenberg, head of the Russia Small Business Fund coordinator, related that over 19 years of operation in Russia the Fund issued USD12 billion in 800 loans to SMEs, 62% of which were loans for a period less than one year, 20.5% were between one and three years, and 17.5%, over three years. According to the speaker, loan size and period do not speak of the market demand. “MSEs do not operate in an easy environment,” said Ms. Nonnenberg.

Boris Igoshin, Deputy Chief of the SME Export Support Department, EKSAR OJSC, dealt with an export factoring insurance program and an exporter loan insurance program.

Alexander Nikolayenko, Deputy Regional Director, Sales Department of the WEB-Leasing OJSC, spoke about SME leasing programs for leasing trucks, passenger cars, and specialized equipment, leasing of metalworking equipment, trading equipment, cash registers, and so on. WEB-Leasing cooperates with many territorial SME support centers. Cooperation between SME companies and WEB-Leasing helps SMEs to save around 20% in profit tax, 18% in VAT reimbursement, and discounts of up to 20% from vehicle manufacturers.

Natalia Lityanskaya, Head of the Bank’s SME Analytical Center, spoke about the government program of guarantees to medium-sized enterprises and the Bank’s line of SME products, with focus on selection criteria and requirements to partner banks. As a result in implementation of the Bank’s SME programs, more than 43,000 SMEs received 369 billion rubles through 393 partner organizations.

Other speakers at the conference included Boris Moshkovich, ABM Partner director, Mikhail Smirnov, Vice President, National Institute for Business System Studies, Zhanna Panina, head, Retail and Corporate Sales Department of Transcapitalbank, Dmitry Lyubomudrov, General Director of the Project Process Club, and Andrei Pashutin, representing the New Technologies LLC. The conference was attended by around 100 people.