REC Board of Directors Reiterates Its Commitment to Comprehensive Support for Exporters
The Board of Directors of Russian Export Center (REC) held a meeting on 14 December. Chaired by VEB.RF Chairman Igor Shuvalov, the meeting approved the REC management report for the nine months of 2020 and the main priorities for 2021. The focus areas will include the One-Stop Shop project to make it easier to support non-resource non-energy exports. The Board of Directors outlined priorities for REC’s activities, namely improving the quality of services, accelerating their provision and enhancing their accessibility.
“2021 will be a critical year for global economic recovery. With lockdowns removed and international trade rebooted, Russian exporters will find new niches and consolidate their position in the traditional markets. It’s important to provide effective support for export activity and make sure the Group’s useful services are scalable; so, we’ll continue to increase operating efficiency to support domestic companies,” REC’s CEO and member of the Board of Directors Veronika Nikishina said.
The mandate received by VEB.RF from the Russian Government to coordinate several development institutions is aimed at streamlining their activities, increasing their contribution towards national projects and improving quality of life. REC, EXIMBANK OF RUSSIA and EXIAR are current members of the VEB.RF Group; the formats necessary to manage and coordinate efforts are already in place. The group is involved in efforts to achieve the national development goals of the Russian Federation by 2030 and contributes its expertise and competencies to national projects, such as International Cooperation and Export, SME Development, and Increasing Workforce Productivity.
The D20 Long-Term Investors Club (D20-LTIC) welcomed VEB.RF’s initiative seeking a leading mandate within the Club to deal with quality and sustainable infrastructure. The initiative was proposed at the D20-LTIC annual meeting by VEB.RF Deputy Chairman Cesare Ragaglini.
“We believe our experience and knowledge in this area will be to the benefit of all members of the Club. VEB.RF developed a national assessment and certification methodology for quality infrastructure projects. We are working closely with the United Nations, the OECD, the World Bank and others,” Cesare Ragaglini said.
Deputy Chairperson Svetlana Yachevskaya, who is in charge of VEB.RF’s quality infrastructure assessment programme, said: “The main thing for us in infrastructure is its quality, which refers to economic viability throughout the project life cycle, environmental and social impacts, and sustainability. We believe that we can now rethink the priorities and scope of infrastructure to achieve better results in sustainable development and focus on the long-term effects and benefits.”
VEB.RF released a methodology for Russia’s Impact and Responsible Investing for Infrastructure Sustainability (IRIIS) system in 2020, including the relevant guidelines for assessors and verifiers. Work is under way on finalising decisions on the projects and experts selected for the validation of the Guidelines in January–May 2021. Additionally, VEB.RF and the development banks of China, India, South Africa and Brazil signed a joint document in 2020 to promote responsible business conduct within BRICS.
The Long-Term Investors Club (LTIC) was created by European major institutional investors in April 2009 to cope with the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. The D20 was initiated by VEB.RF in 2013 under the Russian presidency of the Group of Twenty with the aim of bringing together the G20 development banks. The D20 is an informal group of the G20 financial institutions with a development, promotional or public mandate. The D20 and the Long-Term Investors Club merged in 2019. The D20-LTIC annually publish a D20 Statement submitted to the governments of the G20 member countries.