In July First Ukrainian International Bank (FUIB) provided to Profi-Press, printing company, the financing worth about EURO 2 m. for 5 years with the half-year grace period until the equipment is commissioned at the rate below the market credit rates charged in Ukraine. The financing has been secured by the equipment to be purchased and rights of ownership of this equipment.

“Raising financing for large import contracts is an extremely complicated and problematic task, as in Ukraine the long term resources are not numerous and expensive; so, the domestic borrowing is not always the cheapest one. This is why we approached Profi-Press with the lending scheme, which, though more complicated from the standpoint of its implementation, is more economically advantageous: namely, post-import financing towards purchasing the printing press from Germany with participation of Euler Hermes, German state export credit agency (ECA), which role is to stimulate exports by German domestic manufacturers through long term financing programmes for other countries,” marks Konstantin Kamarali, Head of FUIB’s Trade Finance and Documentary Operations Division.

The financing became possible through the loan obtained by FUIB from large German bank within the post-import financing with participation of Euler Hermes ECA. The Bank got issued the letter of credit worth about EUR 2 m. (85% of the equipment purchase contract value) with subsequent post-import financing including the part of the letter of credit amount of about EUR 1,5 m and the ECA insurance premium of no more than EUR 150 000. The financing cost for the customer is only 7.5% (aligned to EURIBOR).

“The Bank has been cooperating with Profi-Press for many years; this is why, taking into account the significant experience of FUIB in documentary business, we have proposed to our customer this interesting financing scheme. The uniqueness of this case for FUIB is that it is the first such deal arranged after the year 2009, which shows the high level of confidence of our partner banks in the international financing market in FUIB, especially against the background of the current global economic situation. Despite its complex structure, the deal was conducted in a short time and with regard to protection of customer interest. We are confident that our cooperation will facilitate successful development of the company’s business,” said Elena Rudik, Head of SME Department of FUIB.

It bears reminding that FUIB has the two decade experience in domestic and international markets of documentary operations and trade financing and has for many years remained among TOP 5 banks leading in volumes of such operations in Ukraine. FUIB offers to its customers post-export financing from banks in a number of countries of the Western Europe, North and South Americas, Middle East (inter alia, such countries as India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Algeria, Egypt, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia). Moreover, FUIB assists in issue of direct guarantees to the benefit of the counterparties from the said countries without their confirmation by foreign banks. FUIB is one of two banks in Ukraine that have the financing limit with Euler Hermes ECA.

Profi-Press LLC, printing company, has been operating successfully in the Ukraine’s market since 2003 offering a complete range of printing services. FUIB and Profi-Press has been cooperating since 2004. Along with lending, the Bank delivers to the company a wide range of banking services: inter alia, cash and settlement, payroll and other services.