First Ukrainian International Bank (FUIB) informs on the beginning of the new program of support to small and medium business throughout Ukraine. The purpose of the project is to unite the SME representatives, non-governmental and governmental organizations as well as financial sector by providing the platform for communication, discussions, holding of sector events, etc.

Today FUIB is actively cooperating with the SME segment offering the most advanced bank solutions for business, developed with consideration of the peculiarities and the needs of small and medium business in particular. Just for the 1 half 2014 the SME client base in FUIB has increased by more than 2400 legal entities and made almost 27 thousand clients. The portfolio of SME liabilities in 1 half year increased by more than UAH 96 million to UAH 1.9 billion.

“Today small and medium enterprises have huge unrealized potential in Ukraine. We see our objective in support to SME and this is why we initiated the development of common platform aimed at uniting the representatives of this market. For SME as for any other business community it is critical to have a space for communication, discussions, exchange of experience. Given the rush and difficult situation in which Ukrainian business lives today, it is not often that they can find time for meetings and communication with colleagues on the market. Participation in such events allows to feel the market and understand where it moves, to exchange the experience with colleagues, to feel new trends and keep abreast of the situation”, says Aleksey Volchkov, Deputy CEO of FUIB, corporate business.

In the framework of this initiative FUIB intends to hold a number of round tables and meetings for market representatives. Thus, on 15 August there was the first round table “Support to SME. Financing today” in Krivoy Rog. Participants of the meeting discussed alternative opportunities for finance of small and medium enterprises in the conditions of limited traditional lending.

“Main task of the round table was the increase of the level of financial knowledge of market representatives in usage of such new tools as factoring. This alternative source of funding into working capital of enterprises is widely used in the international practice but the representatives of Ukrainian business still don’t have enough knowledge and experience to use it. I would like to note that the rate of growth of SME factoring transactions in FUIB has exceeded 100% since the beginning of the year, which is one of he highest indicators in Ukrainian financial market, - noted Aleksey Volchkov. – In general, by results of the first meeting we received a very positive feedback from the participants and plan to make such events actively in the future”.

Similar round tables are planned to be held in September 2014 in Dnepropetrovsk and Pavlograd.