During the recent years our country has been following a proactive policy aimed at economic liberalization and attracting foreign investments. Being a pioneer in providing innovative services, Priorbank JSC assists foreign investors in finding their way on the Belarusian market and makes them feel at home. Julia Shigaeva, Head of International Desk, Priorbank JSC, will tell us how the bank manages to do this.
-- Julia, as is well known, there is a unit in Priorbank JCS called International Desk. What is this unit?
Priorbank was the first bank in Belarus to create a specialized unit which has no analogies in other banks of the Republic. International Desk is a bank division with the main objective of delivering comprehensive services to international companies.
-- What is the difference between servicing international companies and servicing Belarusian companies?
As a rule, financial activity of international companies which have subsidiaries in different countries is centralized, and the people responsible for making decisions in respect of banking services, money orders, the use of trade finance instruments, are usually located in the headquarters somewhere in Russia, Austria, Germany. Financial management of such companies requires uniformity in the implementation of certain operations, including those relating to banking: a personal English-speaking manager, centralized payments system, unified approach to the implementation of credit transactions.
-- What is the role of International Desk in servicing such companies?
On the one hand, an International Desk manager is an ordinary personal corporate manager, who coordinates the work with the customer in terms of lending, cash management services and treasury operations. On the other hand, international companies are different in the way that when they enter a new country, they bring their business practices with them. A lot needs to be tailored to Belarusian requirements; we need to look for something similar in essence, but with a different name. The main objective of the International Desk managers is identifying optimal ways of implementing international banking practices under Belarusian law and the established business traditions.
-- How did the idea of establishing the International Desk unit in Priorbank JSC appear?
This practice, like many other modern technologies, was introduced by the bank’s major shareholder, Raiffeisenbank. However, Priorbank has been always well-known in the international community: a lot of embassies and representative offices of international organizations hold accounts with us.
-- Are there similar units in other banks of Raiffeisen Group?
Yes, all the banks of Raiffeisen Group have similar units (Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, etc.); such units fall under the scope of responsibility of the Member of the Board responsible for servicing corporate customer.
-- Other Belarusian banks certainly render services to international companies as well. How do services delivered by Priorbank differ from services delivered by other banks?
First of all, membership in Raiffeisen Group allows the bank to accumulate the experience of the Group’s cooperation with certain holding companies. When coming to Belarus, coming for Priorbank service, the company does not feel like a newcomer who needs to prove something about themselves, about their business, and comes with ready reference, history of relationships, habits and preferences.
And secondly, the company gets the same range of services and same quality that it is used to in other countries.
-- Does International Desk deliver services only to those companies that are serviced in other banks of the Raiffeisen Group?
No. We are glad to see any international company in our bank, regardless of whether it is going to do business in the form of a representative office or establish a legal entity, and we are equally friendly to customers of all foreign banks.
-- How do you encourage the interest of such companies?
The fact that is worth mentioning is that the specialists of the International Desk division know the main languages used in the business community: French, German and, of course, English. Thus, international companies from different countries are able to obtain quality information support on doing business in Belarus in any of these languages directly, and what’s important for saving money – they can do it prior to taking the decision of starting business in Belarus, and before coming to the country with specific projects.
-- What does consulting of International Desk include?
Depending on how much the company knows Belarus, we are preparing a comprehensive review, which includes a description of the currency regulations, settlements conditions, analysis of the industry that the international company is planning to do business in. Of course, other divisions of the bank such as the Investment Division, Treasury, Customer Service, render inestimable assistance in doing this.
-- What are the banking services most demanded by international companies?
Of course, an international company operating in Belarus uses the same standard set of services that the national company does. However, services that are particularly in demand transfer of statements in the SWIFT format to the parent company, Internet banking, etc. Moreover, international companies have a rather balanced approach to the assessment of various risks, so the currency risk hedging instruments are as demanded.
-- And what if you were proposed to hold negotiations on customer’s territory, e.g. in Russia, or Austria, or any other country?
I can’t say that this is a common practice. However, in exceptional cases we are ready to meet the client’s expectations in the literal sense of the word.
-- Isn’t it difficult to serve such special clients requiring non-standard services alone?
We are working with a number of legal and auditing companies that specialize on the same segment, thus facilitating and improving each other's work. Cooperation begins at the stage of collecting the documents for opening accounts and sometimes we begin to coordinate their activities even at the stage of registration of the company in Belarus.
-- Under conditions of stimulation of Belarusian export many Belarusian companies are creating subsidiaries in other countries. How can you help them in this case?
If we’re speaking of a country where a bank of the Raiffeisen Group is present, (basically all the countries of Central and Eastern Europe), we will organize a meeting with the bank representatives, delivering primary information about the company. Thus, the bank does not meet a newly-established company from the street, but a respected customer of Raiffeisen Group, a customer with history and reputation.
In case of a country in Western Europe, this problem is also solvable. Raiffeisen Group has a number of agreements on banking cooperation with Western European banks including but not limited to: Calyon (France), Rabobank (Netherlands), Bayern LB (Germany), Svenska Handelsbanken (Sweden), etc.
As a rule, these banks use the network of Raiffeisen banks to promote their clients in Central and Eastern Europe. Likewise, we are working with these banks in countries where there is no bank of Raiffeisen Group.
-- Last question: how should the representatives of foreign companies contact you?
We are located in the Head Office of Priorbank JSC:
220002, Minsk, 31A V.Khoruzhey str.
Tel.: +375-17-289-92-09
e-mail: international@priorbank.by