Opportunities for Exporters - 2019

When a marketer works with export markets, the field of GR (Government Relations) is of particular importance.

Entering foreign markets and expanding the geography of sales is a serious challenge for the entire enterprise team. A significant load falls on the marketing service, since in addition to solving traditional tasks, much effort has to be spent on non-standard ones related to the analysis of new markets and developing a sales system for them. Additionally, it is required to analyze the risks of working with certain countries and even their regions.

In the most "unfavorable" scenario for a marketer, when the company lacks a center of responsibility for the export project, they become that center. This implies basic knowledge and competencies in the fields of international law, finance, logistics, and a number of others for the correct setting of tasks to responsible divisions and their control. To increase the chances of the project's success and not fall into depression from the scale and complexity of the tasks, it is advisable to use all available opportunities. One of the most valuable is interaction with the export support infrastructure, that is, the classic field of GR.

Support for exporters in a "single window" format

The development of export activities and support for exporters is one of the strategic national priorities in the field of economics. Large-scale goals have been set, but serious budget funds have also been allocated to achieve them.

The management of every company that seriously approaches the organization of export activities knows about the existence of the Russian Export Center (REC) – an organization designed to become that "single window" for domestic "non-resource" exporters. However, in practice, this "window" has many small frames and vents, which often confuses exporters who are not yet sufficiently "in the know." Here is the main thing you need to know.

First, the Russian Export Center group, in addition to itself, includes two organizations:

1) Roseximbank – the financial institution of the group (banking organization),

2) EXIAR – the insurance institution of the group (insurance organization).

Secondly, the Russian Export Center itself has internal structural divisions that oversee various areas of activity. For example, there is the REC Export School, which, as the name implies, performs an educational function.

Thirdly, REC has 9 foreign representative offices in the following countries: Azerbaijan, Belarus, Vietnam, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, China, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

Fourthly, in many large cities of Russia, primarily in the administrative centers of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, there are regional divisions of the REC, for example, in Samara it is located at Sklyarenko St. 26, the Panorama office center, offices 2003, 2013.

Businesses from the regions where such divisions are present are usually recommended to contact them to increase the targeting and efficiency of interaction.

Finally, there are regional institutes of export support infrastructure. In the Samara region, such an organization is the Samara Regional Export Support Center, which is a structural subdivision of the "Regional Center for Entrepreneurship Development" Fund. The Export Support Center is focused on working with small and medium-sized businesses and provides a number of informational and consulting services for companies registered in the region, mainly free of charge. The address of the Center is Samarskaya St., 165.

Of course, all the above organizations and their divisions know each other well and the functionality of their partners. Therefore, a business with a question can contact any of them. If the question is beyond the competence of the addressee, the applicant will be redirected accordingly. However, to speed up interaction, it is better to immediately contact the responsible person. In addition, one should have an idea of the opportunities provided by the support infrastructure organizations, i.e., their services. They can be free, paid, or provided on a co-financing basis.

Opportunities for exporters

So, for the solution of what issues should one turn to the "single window"? More precisely, with what problems can they really help.

Staff training in the field of export

Where to contact: REC Export School.

On the school's website at https://exportedu.ru/ you can familiarize yourself in detail with the list of educational services. To receive them, you will need to go through a simple registration and submit an application.

Broadly, there are two main directions – online learning and offline seminars, which are held throughout Russia.

Online learning includes 11 blocks on the most important topics for an exporter: marketing, finance of an export transaction, logistics, currency regulation, legal regulation, and so on. For specialists in each field, this material is unlikely to be interesting, but for those responsible for the export project as a whole, such training is very useful, as it gives a systematic picture of the key problems of implementing the first export shipment. Training takes place on a flexible schedule for the listener in the format of video lectures and testing.

Offline seminars are organized on individual topics from the full course. As a rule, one full working day is allocated for one seminar-topic. This format is interesting because the teacher-expert can provide a lot of additional information, answer questions, and even help with specific problems. In addition, colleagues from other companies in the region come to the training, which is of interest from the point of view of developing contacts in the professional environment.

Credit and guarantee support

Where to contact: Roseximbank.

Roseximbank provides credit lines at favorable rates for exporters. The target purposes of loans can be different: financing expenses under an export contract, commercial credit of the exporter, trade turnover, financing through a letter of credit. Moreover, it is possible to finance a foreign buyer or their bank.

Guarantees can be issued for participation in tenders, for the return of an advance payment, payment under a contract, in favor of a tax authority, as well as for the fulfillment of obligations under an export contract.

For exporters of high-tech products, and this, according to the Order of the Ministry of Industry of the Russian Federation, includes not only rockets and machine tools, there are special preferential conditions for a number of credit programs. But even the "basic" lines of Roseximbank for exporters are generally much more profitable than the offers of commercial banks.

In addition, through Roseximbank, a company can carry out cash settlement services.

Insurance of export contracts

Where to contact: EXIAR.

As an authorized insurance organization, EXIAR provides exporters with favorable rates for insuring various operations related to export, including: insurance of various types of credit, leasing, factoring, confirmed letter of credit, foreign investments, and short-term accounts receivable.

The services of EXIAR are most significant for those companies that enter high-risk countries for foreign economic activity. For certain areas, insurance at reasonable prices can only be obtained here.

Financing of individual export events

Where to contact: Russian Export Center / regional representative offices.

An exporter can receive direct financial support in a number of areas:

- compensation of part of the costs for the transportation of agricultural and food products – up to 50% of actual costs incurred,

- compensation of part of the costs for the transportation of high-tech products – up to 80% of actual costs incurred,

- partial financing of the organization of participation in exhibitions and business missions,

- financing of part of the expenses for participation in tasting and demonstration events and placement of products in a demonstration and tasting pavilion in a foreign state.

Assistance in obtaining documents for releasing products into circulation on international markets

Where to contact: Russian Export Center / regional representative offices.

An exporter can receive the following services free of charge:

- consultations on issues of product conformity assessment in foreign markets,

- consultations on measures of patent and legal protection (basic level),

- preparation and issuance of a Free Sale Certificate (FSC),

- examination of documents for the purpose of issuing an export license.

Additionally, on the REC website, you can find many recommendations and guides on individual issues of documentary formalization of export goods. A number of services are provided by partner companies accredited by the REC, but already on a paid basis.

Marketing and analytics of export markets

Where to contact: Russian Export Center / regional representative offices, foreign representative offices, Export Support Center.

In this direction, there is a fairly wide range of services, which are provided mainly on a paid basis, including in the form of partial payment (co-financed by the Customer).

Materials of a general nature that allow for a primary assessment of market potential are posted on the REC website. However, for final conclusions about the feasibility of entering an export market from the point of view of commercial efficiency, a deeper study is required. Such work is paid.

Consulting on individual issues of implementing export projects

Where to contact: Russian Export Center / regional representative offices, foreign representative offices, Export Support Center.

Information and consulting activities are carried out both by the REC and the Samara Regional Export Support Center on an ongoing basis. You can seek clarification on general issues of customs clearance, currency legislation, logistics of export transactions, and so on. A large number of specialized methodological recommendations are freely available.

As we can see, there are many opportunities and they are very diverse.

In addition to all of the above, one can also name special formats of interaction between the exporter and export support institutions, which are actively developing this year.

Here we can mention, first of all, the export accelerator programs implemented both by the REC itself and by partners (Sberbank, PwC), as well as with the participation of regional infrastructure organizations. For more detailed information, you can contact all these organizations.

The role of partnership programs in export development

Despite all the capabilities of the Russian Export Center, the implementation of the national project will not be sufficiently effective without a supporting framework in the business environment. Therefore, over the past year, the REC has been actively developing a partnership program. In addition to large partners who take on the implementation of individual large-scale projects (like Sberbank), the REC attracts many companies and experts to participate in its activities.

To become a partner of the REC in a certain field (marketing, logistics, legal protection, etc.), it is required to go through an accreditation procedure. In the Samara region, the partner network is still poorly developed. Our marketing agency has passed the accreditation procedure, and therefore actively cooperates with both the Russian Export Center and the Samara Regional Export Support Center.

Until 2024, a significant increase in the indicators of Russian non-resource exports is planned. As a result, measures to support exporters will not only be preserved but also expanded. Those companies that can actively use them will receive additional competitive advantages relative to other market players.