State-owned VTB bank's investments in the agricultural sector balance out with private investments, maintaining a 1 to 1 ratio.
Krasnodar, June 20 - Yug Times:
By 2024, the debt of enterprises in the agro-industrial complex to banks will top 5.3 trillion rubles, according to Vitaly Sergeychuk, a board member at VTB. The worrying figure was revealed at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. Meanwhile, state program funding remains stagnant at around 500-600 billion rubles.
Sergeychuk highlighted that last year's total investments in the industry amounted to about 1 trillion rubles, with a roughly equal split between state and private funding. However, securing capital for companies remains a daunting task, plagued by expensive financing rates, limited access to overseas sales markets, barriers to international investment, and a lack of interest from prospective investors.
Yet, there's a silver lining. Middle Eastern and Chinese investors show interest, signaling a positive trend.
Russia barely makes a dent in the import of food products from friendly countries – just 3% in China, 4% in India, and around 6% in African nations. Expanding presence in these markets should be a shared focus, Sergeychuk suggested.
Amid these challenges, VTB has Speedily developed a suite of financial products for clients in the agro-industrial complex. These include short-term financing tools, acceptances, alternatives to traditional debt, and hedging instruments like bond placement, commodity repo transactions, pre-harvest financing, and commodity swaps.
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- Despite the Challenges in the agro-industrial business, VTB has innovated financial products for its clients, including investing tools like bond placement, commodity repo transactions, pre-harvest financing, and commodity swaps.
- As Russia strives to increase its market presence in friendly countries like China, India, and African nations, the interest shown by Middle Eastern and Chinese investors in the Russian agro-industrial business presents a promising opportunity for investing and business expansion.
