VEB.RF issued short-term bonds in additional placements to companies and corporations on 17 and 19 April 2019.

The Bank raised 13.0 billion roubles, including 12.5 billion roubles from bonds with a maturity of 28 days and a coupon of 7.62% p.a. and 500 billion roubles from bonds with a maturity of 28 days and a coupon of 7.64% p.a.

The par value of one bond is 1,000 roubles. The bonds were sold at 100% of their par value. The coupon is payable at maturity.

The arrangers of the bond issue are Gazprombank and Svyaz-Bank.

The bonds are on the Moscow Exchange’s Quotation List Level 1. The depository is National Settlement Depository.

The executive team of development institutions headed by VEB.RF’s Chairman Igor Shuvalov is visiting Nizhniy Novgorod on 19 April.

The team includes CEOs from VEB.RF, Russian Export Center, DOM.RF, MONOGORODA.RF, RSMB Corporation and VEB Innovations. The programme of the visit envisages a meeting between Igor Shuvalov and Nizhniy Novgorod Region’s Governor Gleb Nikitin.

The delegation will discuss the potential involvement of development institutions in promising investment projects in the region including modern urban environment facilities and transport infrastructure. The participants will also assess DOM.RF’s municipal improvement projects carried out in Nizhniy Novgorod.

MONOGORODA.RF Foundation will organise training for representatives of single-industry towns located in Volga Federal District, businesses and banks in implementing new aid measures. The region’s tourism development initiatives include a Walk Through the City project to be launched in the single-industry town of Volodarsk.

RSMB Corporation will present four investment projects, which can be backed by loans and guarantees under the SME Lending Promotion Programme and the National Guarantee System.

Russian Export Center will hold meetings with regional export-oriented companies. Discussion topics will include accelerator programmes and corporate competitiveness improvement programmes.

Global City Hackathon scheduled to be open during the forthcoming visit will allow the participants to develop digital service prototypes to address urban challenges. VEB Innovations will deliver a lecture for urban planning startups.

VEB.RF is a state development corporation. In partnership with commercial banks and investors, VEB.RF is involved in national projects designed to support high value-added manufacturing, non-resource exports, urban agglomeration and infrastructure development. VEB.RF coordinates activities of the largest national development institutions: Russian Export Center, DOM.RF, RSMB Corporation, the Far East and Baikal Region Development Fund, MONOGORODA.RF Foundation.

Moscow School of Management Skolkovo hosted a strategic session Agri-Logistics 2019. The focus of attention was on building an integrated agri-logistics infrastructure to promote Russian products in global markets and ensure national food security.

The session participants included VEB.RF’s Chairman Igor Shuvalov, Minister of Agriculture Dmitry Patrushev, Deputy Minister of Agriculture Oksana Lut, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Victor Evtukhov, Member of the Board (Minister) for Trade of the Eurasian Economic Commission Veronika Nikishina, Director General of Russian Export Center Andrey Slepnev, and representatives of businesses, government agencies, and expert organisations.

The participants addressed the issues of building an integrated agri-logistics and trade infrastructure to promote Russian products in global markets and ensure national food security. In particular, extensive work has to be done to modernise and expand the capacity of the railway and port infrastructure, build logistics centres, and reduce transportation costs for agricultural products.

VEB.RF’s Chairman Igor Shuvalov said: “We need to develop the market infrastructure. We need to offer our people a greater variety of quality food products at more affordable prices. Producers would be able to more efficiently deliver and sell their products in both the national and international markets. We need to learn to establish mutually beneficial relations both within the Eurasian Economic Union and with our other partners. We see our goal in building a competitive global logistics infrastructure in partnership with market participants.”

“Infrastructure development is imperative to accomplish the task of increasing annual agricultural exports to 45 billion US dollars set by the President. We need to work out the most optimal configuration of routes for national products to reach foreign markets.   As practice shows, it is often easier to manufacture goods rather than to deliver the required amount of goods of the required quality to ultimate consumers. We offer VEB.RF to conduct joint expert examination of the agricultural projects to be delivered with the involvement of development institutions,” Dmitry Patrushev said.

Summing up the 2018 results at the final session of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade Board, the Russian Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov, VEB.RF’s Chairman Igor Shuvalov and Director General of Russian Export Center Andrey Slepnev signed a memorandum.

The Integrated Export Promotion System is designed to accomplish two major tasks, i.e. to increase the quality of services due to the introduction of uniform standards, and make all export support measures available in a one-stop shop covering over 100 foreign countries and 85 Russian constituent entities.   

“Russia’s Ministry of Industry and Trade, VEB.RF and REC have entered into an agreement to benefit from their shared experience, capabilities, resources and infrastructure and provide Russian exporters with efficient support, primarily, in the context of the Integrated Export Promotion System, which is being rolled out in the Russian constituent entities and abroad,” Denis Manturov said.

The initiative to combine international and regional export promotion services under REC’s umbrella has been earlier announced by VEB.RF’s Chairman Igor Shuvalov.

“The system would encourage Russian businesses to export their products and create a consistent demand for domestic goods and services in foreign markets. At this point, the engagement of the Ministry of Industry and Trade with its expertise in devising and introducing best practices of export promotion is pivotal.   It would be reasonable for the exporters seeking backing from VEB.RF or other development institutions to first apply to REC, which would assess their export potential and the need for such backing,” Igor Shuvalov said. 

In May 2018, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin assigned the task to increase non-resource exports to 250 billion US dollars a year including 45 billion US dollars of agricultural products.

“The Integrated Export Promotion System, which is now being created by REC, VEB.RF and the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade in compliance with national and federal projects, provides for the integration of existing export promotion mechanisms, including the functional capabilities of VEB.RF and such development institutions and associations as RSMB Corporation, Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, OPORA RUSSIA All-Russian Public Organisation of Small and Medium Business, regional Export Support Centres, and Russian trade missions abroad,” Andrey Slepnev said.

Joint offices of REC, VEB.RF and trade missions are to become the backbone of the system’s global network. Russian Export Center will ensure overall coordination between the joint offices offering Russian exporters various measures of support.

Primarily, such integrated system is designed to assist Russian exporters and foreign buyers of Russian products in choosing relevant partners and participating in exhibitions, fairs and business missions, provide projects with financial and non-financial backing, offer Russian exporters and foreign buyers of Russian products analytical and advisory services, and overcome any hurdles in delivering joint projects.

In the near future, the business process participants intend to execute the documents required to approve interaction procedures including those pertaining to the one-stop shop information service.

Joint offices will be set up in Turkey, Vietnam, Singapore, Germany and other countries.