Russia is entering a competitive struggle on the civil aircraft global market. Vnesheconombank is ready to fund the export of the first six aircraft at a preferential rate to India and Laos. In his interview VEB Deputy Chairman Alexandr Ivanov told PRIME Agency about the State Corporation’s program to promote Russian high technology products exports. He was interviewed by Elena Fedorova.

Question: What’s the main objective of Vnesheconombank’s program to promote Russian high-technology products supplies to foreign markets?

Answer: The main idea is to optimize the mechanism for promoting high technology products exports – reduce time for application consideration, provide exporters with a competitive interest rate and coordinate the work of participants in VEB Group.

A mechanism for interacting Vnesheconombank Group’s participants upon funding high technology exports was approved at a meeting of VDEB’s Supervisory Board on October 29. Now we are at a final stage of working out procedures with regard to this program. I’d like to remind you that besides Vnesheconombank there are three more companies involved in promoting exports, namely EXIAR, Roseximbank (an agent bank responsible for providing guarantee support for exports) and VEB-Leasing (a special leasing company). Their activities should be coordinated. And our main objective is to assure the exporter that from the date he submits his application for supporting exports together with all required documents a maximum period needed to consider it and make a decision will be no more than 3 months. Such instruction was given to us by Economic Development Minister Andrey Belousov as the market for export supplies is highly competitive.

Question: What are the functions of Roseximbank and VEB-Leasing?

Answer: Roseximbank is the agent for the Finance Ministry in extending guarantees as part of the state’s exports promotion. State guarantees can be extended among other things for credits the borrowers of which are purchasers of Russian products with a higher risk level (for example, the the 7^th group under the OECD classification). Now, Roseximbank is capable of extending such guarantees for a transitional period. Guarantees can be extended to funding banks – VEB or a syndicate of banks.

There are a number of questions about this instrument in connection with Russia’s entry into the WTO. There is no consensus if state guarantees can be used in the future because now they are free. And under OECD standards guarantees to exporters cannot be free. Maybe, this system will be reviewed but currently a transitional period is in force.

VEB Leasing acts as an operator in leasing schemes. For example when we sell Sukhoi Superjet aircraft we use for the most part credit-leasing schemes and in this case VEB-leasing is responsible structuring a leasing component of transaction that is for leasing out aircraft and establishing SPVs.

Question: What capabilities do Vnesheconombank and its subsidiaries have for providing financial support for high technology products exports?

 Answer: At the first stage we work out the so called credit to purchaser mechanism. This is one of the most advanced and complicated form of funding exports when a non-resident purchaser of Russian products or its bank turns to us for a credit for the supply, for example, of Superjet. We consider an application, assess risks and extend a credit to a purchaser and EXIAR insures relevant risks. As to entrepreneurial risks they can insure up to 90% of a credit amount and as to political risks - up to 95%. And Vnesheconombank is ready to provide up to 85% of an export contract value. Remaining 15% is to be funded by the borrower from other sources largely through using its own funds. This is an OECD requirement. Sooner or later Russia will join this organization. In developing our instruments we focus on OECD member countries’ experience and the WTO. We have successful examples of extending a credit to purchaser. We don’t have a unified standard so far but we have already worked out a procedure and we’ll soon approve it at our Board meeting. We are going to develop other products in the future. These might be credits to purchasers and credit to a purchaser’s bank and various documentary credit and guarantee operations.

Question: Won’t VEB duplicate a similar program of Sberbank?

Answer: Under its Memorandum Vnesheconombank focuses on those projects which commercial banks are not ready to finance for various reasons. As a rule these are projects with long payback periods or projects with higher risks. It’s a good thing that Sberbank and other commercial banks are involved in funding exports. They should interact with EXIAR and receive from it insurance coverage for credits but at an initial stage or in high-risk projects these banks give high priority to generating profit and they are unlikely to be ready to fund the said projects. VEB’s mission is to launch this export promotion mechanism at an initial stage, give impetus and then if commercial banks are ready to replace us we’ll be quite happy.

Question: VEB is ready to extend credits to foreign purchasers of Sukhoi Superjet-100 for an amount of 2.5 billion dollars. How are you going to organize international sales of these Russian planes?

Answer: On October 29 this year, VEB’s Supervisory Board made a decision that Vnesheconombank was to open a credit line for foreign purchasers of Superjet-100 with a total drawdown limit of 2.5 billion dollars for a period of 12 years. The Supervisory Board decision specifies a maximum rate for a borrower with due regard to VEB’s interest margin and to EXIAR’s insurance premium. And each specific transaction under this limit is to be considered by governance bodies of Vnesheconombank and EXIAR and a relevant structure of transaction is to be offered and, above all, a credit-leasing scheme that will make it possible to minimize risks. It should be noted that the abovementioned decision made by the Supervisory Board does not mean that decisions will be taken automatically and Vnesheconombank can refuse to fund a borrower in case of increased risk with regard to a specific transaction.

EXIAR entered into an agreement on cooperation with insurance agencies of France and Italy, namely, Coface and SACE. In the Sukhoi Superjet-100 project France, Italy and Russia account for a third each. As soon as EXIAR receives a sovereign rating and is on par with these European agencies, most transactions will be structured in the following way: a syndicate of three agencies Coface, SACE and EXIAR will provide insurance coverage and a syndicate of Russian banks including VEB and foreign banks will provide appropriate financing to purchasers of Sukhoi Superjet-100 aircraft.

VEB is by no means seeking to cover all financing needs it will be physically impossible for us to do it. But conditions in a syndicate should be equal, that is, Russian banks are supposed to offer same conditions as French banks. It will be easy to agree terms with Italians because borrowing costs of the Italian state are higher than Russian ones but it will be more difficult to balance conditions with French banks.

Still, banks will be interested in funding export as EXIAR’s insurance police would allow them not to build reserves against credits.

According to Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company they plan to manufacture more than 800 aircraft up to 2025. Naturally, a considerable part of them will be intended for export. And they are scheduled to be exported to European countries, the CIS, Asia and Latin America, that is, throughout the world.

Question: How long is Vnesheconombank going to extend credits at a preferential rate under a limit of 2.5 billion dollars for the supply of 11 aircraft?

Answer: As long as the decision made by VEB’s Supervisory Board is in force, a rate of the syndicated loan will not be higher than 6.5%. This rate was established because banks of Superjet main competitors - Embraer and Bombardier extend credits on similar terms to countries with a high level of risks.

Now the cost of raising funds by VEB is in line with the coupon rate of 10-year eurobonds placed this summer. It is 6.025% per annum. This means that our interest margin is minimal. VEB operates on a break-even basis and does not receive financial recourses to promote exports from the state; we raise all funds on the market. That is, we have market liabilities and not –quite market assets.

The following decision was made: a scheme of funding at a rate of 6.5% through using VEB’s own funds is limited either to 11 aircraft or to the end of 2013.

Question: What mechanism for supporting the export of Sukhoi Superjet-100 aircraft will be used in the future?

Answer: At present, a draft resolution and draft regulations have been sent to the Russian Government for approval. They deal with providing Vnesheconombank with subsidies to compensate for expenses incurred in connection with extending credit resources by Vnesheconombank to foreign purchasers of high technology products manufactured on the territory of Russia under credit agreement as well as in connection with paying for related works and services included in the said agreements. Above all, the said resolution and regulations would deal with subsidizing projects associated with funding international sales of Sukhoi Superjet-100 aircraft.

Question: Can you tell us about applications for funding supplies of Sukhoi Superjet aircraft to foreigners?

Answer: We have a number of applications. We received an application for funding the supply of three Sukhoi Superjet-100 aircraft to the Republic of Indonesia. Indonesia’s airline PT Sky Aviation plans to purchase them. We’ll use a credit-leasing scheme with engaging a special leasing company in the Swiss jurisdiction to lease out the planes to airline PT Sky Aviation for operation. Vnesheconombank will open a credit line for this leasing company for a period of 10 years. EXIAR is expected to participate in this scheme to insure a part of PT Sky Aviation’s obligations under a leasing contract.

The use of credit-leasing schemes in such kind of transactions is in line with world practice. Since an aircraft is the main collateral it should be owned by a company controlled by Vnesheconombank. An aircraft is not passed into the ownership of a borrower until it makes all leasing payments. So, in case of default, when a borrower can’t service obligations under a credit, an aircraft is to be seized and sold on the market. The main problem now is the absence of the market for Sukhoi Superjet-100 so it will be very difficult to sell it. That is why Vnesheconombank’s role is very important. It assumes this risk and supports Russian producers. We hope that in the course of time a market for these planes will be created and then commercial banks will be more interested to participate in such transactions.

We have another application: we are now exploring the possibility of funding the supply of three Sukhoi Superjet-100 aircraft to Laos where Lao Central Airline Public Company will operate them.

These two applications are at an advanced stage of preparation. They are being examined at full speed. We have a number of applications which are at an initial stage of preparation.

Question: Does VEB consider applications from foreign partners for funding supplies of other Russian planes?

Answer: We do not limit ourselves to Superjet-100; we are ready to support any Russian aircraft producers. Recently we have won the Finance Ministry’s tender in Indonesia for the supply of 6 Russian made SU-30MK2 fighters for Indonesia’s Defense Ministry. VEB is to fund the supplies; it will open a credit line for a period of 7 years. Besides planes they will also supply equipment and pilot training programs. We have won the tender and we have practically funded a credit agreement which we’ll to Indonesia’s Finance Ministry in the near future.

This is a landmark transaction because we fund the Republic of Indonesia without any state guarantees. In terms of credit rating this country is on par with Russia but its economy is growing faster. In our opinion this country is a prime borrower out of all countries that purchase our aircraft and maybe it’s the best in terms of creditworthiness. We are not working actively on any other applications from foreign states. We have of course received applications for other planes for example An-158, AN-148 but they are at an early stage of preparation.

Question: What planes do you think are most attractive in terms of exports?

Answer: Undoubtedly MS-21. We already have a preliminary agreement of intent on the purchase of this aircraft. It should replace ageing planes in Russia and other countries and for example in Indonesia.

I’m sure that Vnesheconombank will be ready to support this product of the United Aircraft Construction Corporation. Surely, it’s up to our Supervisory Board and the Government to make a final decision.

Question: Having subsidiary banks in Belarus and Ukraine how does Vnesheconombank support domestic exporters in these countries? Does your general program provide for promoting high technology products exports in these countries?

Answer: These countries are very important in terms of integration, so in the past a decision was made to purchase two banks – Belvnesheconombank and Prominvestbank. Our presence there aims to enhance foreign trade, integration and advance interests of Russian business largely in the form of exports and investments.

I’d like to remind you that in November of 2011 the Russian and Belarusian governments signed an agreement on extending a state export credit in the amount of up to 10 billion dollars to build a nuclear power station on the territory of Belarus. VEB acts here as an agent for the Russian Finance Ministry - a credit for the construction of this power station will be extended through our Bank.

At the same time, the Belarusian Finance Ministry appealed to Vnesheconombank for a credit to fund advance payments under this project in the amount up to 500million dollars for a period of 10 years. We have considered a credit application and taking into account this project’s great importance for Russia we have made a positive decision. A scheme looks as follows: we’ll fund this transaction together with Roseximbank. VEB’s participation share is 460 million dollars with Roseximbank’s share being 40 million dollars. There are plans to extend a state guarantee as collateral for this credit, this is Roseximbank’s responsibility. And payments under this credit and the project’s monitoring will be made through our subsidiary bank in Belarus – BelVEB.

We are preparing a similar transaction in Ukraine. Two Russian producers – the Novocherkassk Electric Locomotive Building Plant and the Urals Locomotives Company are planning to supply locomotives to Ukrainian railways. Here the transaction is at a middle stage of consideration because they plan to supply a great number of locomotives, moreover a great deal of money is involved and there are country risks. We are now trying to offer an optimal structure of the transaction to minimize these risks. Specifically, we are considering the opportunity to turn to EXIAR for it to work out a scheme to participate in this project. As far as this transaction is concerned, our subsidiary Prominvestbank is to be its security agent and settlement bank. Moreover, we’ll also engage VEB-Leasing for this transaction.

Question: Could you specify expected supply volumes and the sum of credit application?

Answer: A planned financing limit under the project is 2.2 billion dollars. It won’t be a lump sum but tranches depending on a specific supply. 350 locomotives are expected to be supplied plus an option for another 50 aircraft.

This transaction was discussed in summer at a meeting of the Prime Ministers, VEB has received certain instructions but no directives. We fund repayable projects we do not extend grants.

Answer: What projects aimed at promoting high technology exports are being considered besides funding the sales of Sukhoi Superjet aircraft?

Answer We have a number of transactions at an initial stage on promoting high technology services exports, specifically, the GLONASS project commercialization. There are a number of foreign customers who are ready to use GLONASS services both navigational ones and related services on geo positioning and cargo monitoring. The Russian company and prospective customers are at an initial stage of negotiations but we have already been involved in this process - we are considering payment clauses of would-be contracts. If they are signed VEB would be ready to explore the possibilities of providing financing. Here I mean customers from CIS countries.

Moreover we are actively working with a number of large-scale Russian companies both from manufacturing and raw-materials industries operating in African countries. I’m talking about access to raw materials sources and providing support for Russian companies operating on the African continent. About two years ago, Vnesheconombank established a Coordinating Committee for Economic Cooperation with Sub-Saharan Africa. Well-known Russian companies joined the Committee.

Now we are exploring the possibility of establishing a special fund that will provide financial support for Russian companies operating on the African continent. We haven’t made any decisions yet but we have received the Government’s instructions on this issue. We have plans to start working out a concept of such special fund.

VEB will be able to fund a certain part in this special fund and we are not going to be its only participant. We are in talks now with a number of major Russian banks that have customers in this region and with major Russian companies.

I’m not ready to specify the Fund’s scope of activity. We can enter into its charter capital, debt financing is possible, we can engage local investors, select potential projects, make monitoring and work with relevant authorities. We can expand this list after discussions with the Government.

Question: VEB raises funds for its programs on the market including in the form of syndicated loans. At what stage are you in raising syndicated loan worth 800 million dollars? Are you going to refinance a syndicated loan worth 2.45 billion euros?

Answer: We are raising a syndicated loan worth 800-850 million dollars to refinance the loan worth 700 million dollars and 100 million euros that we raised in 200o. We are at a final stage of preparing a loan facility agreement, that is, we have a pool of banks that are ready to support us. We plan to sign this agree till this year-end. Everything is going according to schedule. Funds are to be disbursed next year because the loan that we are refinancing expires right after the January holidays. And we’ll replace it with a new loan to a day but on better terms because the previous loan was raised against the backdrop of post-crisis consequences.

A large-scale loan worth 2.45 billion euros that we raised in April of 2011 on the terms unprecedented for the Russian market expires in 2014. We of course plan to refinance it but everything will depend on a market situation. VEB depends heavily on capital markets and if by a date of this credit repayment we see that we won’t be able to raise a loan on the same terms or will be able to raise a smaller loan we’ll replace the remaining part with some other instruments either eurobonds or domestic dollar-denominated bonds.

Question: Will there be any bilateral credits till this year-end?

Answer: There will be no large-scale credits. The process is naturally underway – we sign credit agreement every week but small ones. Markets are already closing pending Christmas.

Question: Do you still havel plans for ruble-denominated eurobonds?

Answer: Yes we do. Now there is a certain speculative demand for OFZs. In June, foreign investors are expected to get access not only to government bonds but also to corporate bonds. As foreigners now can invest only in OFZs a speculatively bloated demand is arising: yields on OFZs are somewhat reduced but it is more difficult for corporates and banks to get ruble liquidity.

We’ll be ready to make ruble borrowings on international markets if we see that given higher expenses on eurobonds, borrowings will be for us at least no more expensive than on the local market. And second, we realize that a volume really matters if a volume is insufficient it makes no sense to borrow on international markets with expensive lawyers, it’s easier to borrow on the local market.

When a speculative demand falls, when nonresidents stop buying OFZs in such large volumes and set their sights on corporates and banks, I think that terms of ruble borrowings are bound to improve.