OREANDA-NEWS. May 22, 2014. A delegation from Sberbank CIB took part in the 23rd Annual Meeting and Business Forum of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which was held in the middle of May in Warsaw.

The Sberbank Group was represented by the Financial Institutions Division, Trade Finance and Correspondence Relations Division, and also DenizBank and Sberbank Switzerland AG.

This event is a key conference for the financial community and brings together the senior management of major financial groups. During the conference meetings were held with representatives of over 30 banks, financial companies and national development institutions from Western and Eastern Europe, the CIS, Asia, U.S. and other regions. The key topics of discussion were joint deals with foreign partners being carried out by the Sberbank Group and trade finance development strategy. In addition, measures aimed at minimising the negative impact of the current economic and political situation on the development of mutually beneficial cooperation were discussed.

The traditional Trade Facilitation Programme Information Session took place at the EBRD’s Annual Meeting and Business Forum. Andrey Ivanov, Head of Trade Finance and Correspondence Relations Division spoke at the session. During the discussion with international participants, Mr Ivanov emphasised that the Sberbank Group is actively expanding its presence on the trade finance market by offering new products to clients and partner banks in all the countries where it operates. He also touched on a number of important strategic trends and initiatives, in particular, the expansion of the global trade finance market as a result of growing international trade, and clients’ interest in and the potential for developing trade finance instruments that use Russian roubles, a factor that will enable the Sberbank Group’s clients to bypass foreign currency risks during financing.

The Sberbank Group is an important strategic partner of EBRD under the Trade Facilitation Programme.