By Trend

Representatives of IBA-Moscow Bank held meetings with employees of Azerbaijani financial institutions during their visit to Baku and told Trend about the goals of the visit and work done within it.

According to Tamilla Doroshenko, director of the bank's correspondent accounts and international operations department, the purpose of the visit was to solve business problems with partners of the IBA-Moscow Bank, as well as to discuss issues of cooperation on products to support foreign trade operations between Azerbaijan and Russia.

"During the business visit, we discussed with partners the prospects for cooperation and further development of partnerships, business development plans for Russian and Azerbaijani entrepreneurs, and the role of the bank in helping businesses enter the foreign economic market," she added.

Svetlana Lunkova, director of the Business Development Department of IBA-MOSCOW Bank, said that the bank specifies the expansion of participation in the development of trade relations between Azerbaijan and Russia as a key aspect.

According to her, the main goal of the bank is to provide high-quality service to its customers and develop technological and marginal products.

"Our bank is moving towards the technology and digitalization development, attracting highly qualified specialists, as well as establishing new strategic partnerships with organizations aimed at enhancing trade and export relations between Russia and Azerbaijan. This is a strategic focus," Lunkova noted.

She also noted that the provision of standard financial services is no longer a competitive advantage.

"It is important to accompany the client at all stages of business development, helping in solving daily problems, and providing companies with services in audit, consulting, transaction support and taxation," the bank’s representative further said. "It is significant that our personal bank expert, in addition to carrying out exchange control of current turnkey operations, will help to formalize the transaction given the requirements of Azerbaijani legislation, carry out a preliminary examination of the foreign trade contract, and assist in resolving any issues and non-standard situations related to the conduct of the foreign economic activity."

"We strive for being not just a servicing institution, but become a reliable financial partner to promote the business development of our client," stressed Lunkova.

She also stated that the bank has significantly expanded its line of business loans, and its customers can choose a product depending on the current task.

According to her, such products of the bank as "Investment loan" (to expand production) and "Revolving loan" (to increase the turnover of the client's business) are presently in demand.

"For those who decide to purchase commercial real estate, we offer a convenient and profitable "Commercial Mortgage", and for entrepreneurs who need a car park for doing business - "Commercial Car Credit". For companies participating in foreign economic activity, as well as for those who only plan to enter the foreign market, we propose a Finite Element Analysis (FEA) package that includes a full range of support services, including assistance in the foreign trade contracts preparation, individual consultations, training of company employees, verification of counterparties, and others," Lunkova said.

Furthermore, the FEA package allows companies to reduce the cost of currency control, money transfers abroad and get a number of other benefits through comprehensive support.

The department’s head also noted that for individuals, the bank launched a new money transfer service between Russia and Azerbaijan, Granat, which allows the quick and profitable transfer of funds in Russian rubles, Azerbaijani manats, dollars, and euros.

"We are aimed at maximizing the use of digital technologies in our interaction with clients. Our ongoing dialogue with the international business environment showed that the possibility of prompt, literally in one or two “clicks”, and solving the problem are among the most demanded services," she pointed out. "We assessed the situation and came to the conclusion that despite global informatization, companies simply do not have enough time to look for potential partners and new distribution channels."

Currently, according to her, the need for business diversification has increased many times in an environment where the business needs additional stability.

"Azeri-Russian Desk (ARD) platform is necessary for participants in foreign economic activity, precisely companies planning to expand business with foreign partners or decide to enter a foreign market," Lunkova said. "In a convenient business marketplace format, there are some offers from Russian and Azerbaijani industrial companies: food industry, metallurgy gia, non-food products, logistics, chemical and automotive industries and a number of others."

"The search process is automated, and the company only needs to fill out a simple form on the website (https://ard.moscow/). The process is controlled by a personal manager who can advise the client at any stage. It is important for us to maintain individual interaction with the client during the total digitalization of services, to encourage his trust in the bank," she noted.

She emphasized that the task of ARD, as well as other products of the bank, is to give the client maximum simplicity and convenience during work.

"In this regard, we have formed an expanded package of services available to any ARD user: transfers of funds between Russia and Azerbaijan with a commission of 0 rubles, currency control services on preferential terms, conversion operations at favorable rates, assessment of the company's export potential, due diligence of foreign counterparties, and others," the bank’s representative said. "ARD has additional services from our partners, including insurance and legal services, as well as intellectual property protection, logistics and customs services, consulting and audit, and a number of other utilities necessary in foreign economic activity."

"The demand for financing the supply of various products has recently increased, as a rule, these are unsecured loans. The growth in the financing of product supply contracts is associated with the growth of trade transactions and their features, for example, if a manufacturer supplies its goods to a distribution network, then a payment deferment is possible, and we are ready to lend to such contracts," Lunkova added.

The department head also touched upon the issue of COVID-19 pandemic consequences’ impact on IBA-MOSCOW Bank.

According to her, the bank has accepted all the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and post-COVID-19 pandemic and is consistently moving forward in accordance with its strategic goals.

"All market participants experienced a hard period in these difficult conditions. IBA-MOSCOW Bank is stable thanks to strong shareholder - the International Bank of Azerbaijan," the director of the department said. "Of course, in these circumstances, we have changed our activity aimed at supporting customers, maintaining the pace of development and achieving the targets."

"The bank pays special attention to the development of remote customer services, information technologies, the settlements of transactions in national currencies, in which we traditionally have strong expertise, and created new products that are in demand today," she said. "We have successfully adapted the strategy and business processes, as well as have created the remote work for employees."

“The bank's strategic priorities, namely, the support and stimulation of the development of trade relations, active development of high-tech products and services for business, expansion of the range of services for Azerbaijani citizens living in Russia, have not changed at all,” she pointed out. “But I would like to stress that the intensity of work has greatly increased. We face the task of not only maintaining, but also expanding a high-quality client base. Despite our shareholder is the International Bank of Azerbaijan, we are a full-fledged Russian bank.”

“First of all, we focus on cooperation with the corporate sector, including the companies that conduct foreign economic activity and participate in trade relations between Russia and Azerbaijan. Our goal is long-term cooperation,” added Lunkova.

Roman Shvets, head of the treasury of IBA-MOSCOW Bank, highlighted the issue of doing business with Azerbaijan.

According to Shvets, the bank in its activity relies on the deep knowledge of the regulatory and legislative framework of Azerbaijan and Russia and the national characteristics of the peoples of the two countries.

“Besides knowing the common cornerstones of business, foreign businesses in each country should take into account the specifics and details that can greatly affect success,” he noted. “There are no trifles in this, therefore, the Russian and Azerbaijani companies, which plan to participate in foreign economic activity, appeal to us for high-quality expertise. It is obvious that remote services have come to the fore.”

“We have good project experience in implementing the modern technological solutions, so after analyzing customer requests, we have developed competitive products that not only help businesses remain active amid restrictions but also provide additional opportunities for development. The Azeri-Russian Desk platform and the Granat translation service testify to this,” Shvets said

Besides, according to the head of treasury, there is no great difference between doing business in Russia and Azerbaijan.

“The business structure here and there is almost the same: the business processes are being actively automated. The modern technological IT solutions are being used and human resource development programs are being integrated,” he noted.

“Business understands that it is possible to maintain high competitiveness in any market segment only this way, in terms of the digital economy,” concluded Shvets.