Sberbank holds business breakfast Russian Agriculture 2.0: Focusing on Exports

21 September 2018, Moscow - Sberbank CIB, the corporate and investment banking business of Sberbank, has held the business breakfast Russian Agriculture 2.0: Focusing on Exports, which brought together the key players of the Russian agricultural industry to discuss new opportunities for growth and the obstacles standing in their way. The event was attended by senior executives of Russia's biggest agriculture companies, representatives of medium-sized businesses, and international industry consultants and experts.

The participants of the business breakfast noted that Russia's agricultural sector has considerable export potential, with annual exports possibly exceeding $45 bln by 2024. This target will be achievable if there is a clear understanding of the strategy for future investments, and a structural and technological transformation takes place, including changes to the approaches taken by Russian exporters. The guests of the event also stressed the need for a more in-depth dialogue about the comprehensive and multi-factored conditions of doing business on international agricultural product markets. There was a separate discussion of the potential for different forms of cooperation between agriculture companies and other market players.

Alexander Vedyakhin, First Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board of Sberbank:

'Russia's agricultural sector has massive potential to develop and successfully competitive on a global scale. Our enormous export potential can be realised by interacting on products offered by financial institutions such as Sberbank, which are capable of not only meeting the needs of agriculture companies in terms of financial and supporting exports, but also acting as drivers of technological, managerial and digital evolution in the sector. Sberbank's loan portfolio of agricultural sector companies has reached 900 bln roubles; we will ensure that it continues to grow.'

During the business breakfast, Sberbank representatives talked in detail about the bank's role in carrying out approaches and initiatives of its clients as part of the export strategy, forming and developing opportunities for cooperation, and creating joint programmes and investments in projects.