In Belarus, as in any other country, export is the key driver of economic development. The sale of domestic goods and services in foreign markets makes it possible to accelerate the growth rate of GDP, ensure the inflow of foreign capital into the country and strengthen the position of the national currency. It is also important that export activities stimulate Belarusian companies to improve the quality of goods and services in order to compete in foreign markets, which benefits all consumers.
Today, the republic has many tools for multifaceted support of Belarusian exporters – enterprises that sometimes promote products under the guaranteed quality mark “Made in Belarus” for tens of thousands of kilometers. The Development Bank provides comprehensive assistance to domestic producers, which has not only consolidated effective mechanisms to promote export growth, but also built the necessary financial bridges with non-residents and paved the way to achieve an economically beneficial result for all parties of the export transaction.
Maximum contribution
In the current competitive times, it is not always enough to offer quality goods and services for effective export activities, it is often necessary to provide participants of an important economic process with accompanying support tools. The infrastructure formed in the Development Bank makes it possible to provide financial resources to both Belarusian export enterprises and directly to non-residents to pay for domestic goods and services.
Simple mechanism of financing
It is quite easy to get financial support from the Development Bank. You need to contact the Bank and its branches, where specialists will consult a potential borrower and assist in filling out a package of documents, answer questions regarding the specifics and parameters of the export transaction.
The Development Bank offers several directions to promote Belarusian products and services abroad.
The first is the financing of resident organizations of the Republic of Belarus. The bank grants an export credit or factoring directly to the exporter. In this case, the parties conclude an agreement on direct export crediting or factoring respectively. The Bank also provides financing to leasing organizations that are residents of the Republic of Belarus for the provision of international leasing services or the conclusion of purchase and sale agreements with installment payments with foreign buyers.
The second direction of activity is one of the main advantages of the Development Bank's export support – financing of non-residents for the purchase of domestic goods and services. It allows the exporter to get a unique opportunity: to increase export volumes offering not only goods, but also resources in the international market for which the buyer can purchase them.
For this purpose, the Development Bank grants an export credit directly to a foreign buyer or leasing organization for settlements with domestic exporters for products supplied by them or services provided.
In addition, financing of a foreign buyer can be carried out through a foreign partner bank, with which the Development Bank concludes an agreement on interbank lending.
It should be noted that an integral condition for any export loan of the Development Bank is mandatory collateral in the form of insurance coverage of Eximgarant of Belarus.
Also, the exporting enterprise can apply to the country's leading leasing operator JSC “Promagroleasing”, where it will be provided with international leasing services or help to sell its products by installments to a non-resident buyer.
Profitable and affordable
The competitive advantage of export financing by the Development Bank is interest rates. Credit resources for residents are offered in Belarusian rubles with an interest rate equal to at least 2/3 of the refinancing rate of the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus. Non-residents can also receive financing under these terms. Also, resources in Russian rubles with an interest rate of at least 2/3 of the Central Bank rate are available for foreign borrowers.
The amount of financing can be up to 100% of the export contract if the loan or revolving credit facility with turnover is provided for a period of up to one year.
If the term of the loan agreement (or the turnover of the credit facility) exceeds one year, the Development Bank will finance up to 85% of the export contract.
The maximum loan term is up to 7 years, depending on the terms of the export agreement.
In demand and effective
Belarusian producers actively use financial instruments of export support of the Development Bank. More than 6 billion US dollars in equivalent has been allocated for these purposes for just 11 years of the program's existence. The Development Bank's export financing was 65% higher than the previous year's level and amounted to 4.3 billion Belarusian rubles or 1.4 billion US dollars in equivalent at the end of 2023. At the same time, the share of non-resident borrowers in the volume of export financing of the Development Bank last year amounted to about 40% and continues to grow in 2024. Separately, it is worth noting that 1 ruble of credit funds invested by the Development Bank in export support in 2023 generated exports of domestic products by an average of 3.3 Belarusian rubles.
This year, the pace is increasing significantly. The result of the work carried out in the first half of 2024 was a record volume of provided export financing - 3.1 billion Belarusian rubles or more than 980 million US dollars, while the Development Bank concluded new export financing agreements for a total amount of more than 1.8 billion Belarusian rubles or more than 560 million US dollars.
The Bank has created all necessary financial infrastructure covering more than 60 countries to supply Belarusian products abroad. Agreements have been concluded with financial institutions of both the countries dominating in the structure of exports of the Republic of Belarus and in the promising markets of the countries of the far arc.
The Development Bank also actively works to expand export support through non-financial instruments that are being developed as part of the activities of the Agency of International Business Development. The Agency's work is focused on providing consulting and information support to Belarusian companies on entering new markets, including through e-commerce, developing mechanisms for fulfilling obligations under foreign trade transactions, organizing the supply of critical imports of raw materials and equipment. The organization is engaged in supporting export contracts, as well as building logistics routes and financial payment schemes in the context of restrictions on foreign trade settlements of Belarusian residents.
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