OREANDA-NEWS. At the Global Annual Meeting of the BAFT-IFSA (Bankers' Association for Finance and Trade and International Financial Services Association) in London international magazine Global Finance announced the winners among the top trade finance banks in 76 countries and seven regions. Sberbank was recognised as Russia's best trade finance bank in 2013.

The magazine's authoritative jury made up of leading economic analysts, heads of companies and banking industry experts chose the winners based on the following criteria: transaction volume, scope of global coverage, customer service, competitive pricing and innovative technologies.

Sberbank implemented a record number of trade finance and documentary operations in 2013, amounting to about RUB 1.3 tln (\\$43 bln). The bank offers a full range of trade finance and documentary business products based on the best international standards.

"For several years, Sberbank has accelerated growth and considerably increased profits from its trade finance and documentary business. Today, we are a dynamic leader with an extensive product offering - our latest victory in the "Best Trade Finance Bank in Russia" category is a testament to this," commented Andrey Ivanov, Head of the Trade Finance and Correspondence Relations Division of Sberbank of Russia. "Given the impressive prospects for development against the background of the Sberbank Group's geographical expansion we are beginning to build a global trade finance platform. The synergy achieved from the creation of the international Sberbank Group will enable us to offer customers the most extensive and flexible integrated solutions for servicing trade flows."