On 11 February, the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry held in Minsk an International Payments Congress dedicated to documentary transactions in trade as a tool for reliable settlements in the context of modern challenges. The event raised a lot of interest fr om international trade operators, as international payments in the current realities are a burning topic to many of them. The Congress brought together over 400 business representatives and experts from 20 Belarusian banks.
Speaking at the event opening, Deputy BelCCI Chairman Denis Meleshkin noted that international payments are a complex, multifaceted topic demanding not only theoretical knowledge, but also practical solutions. Payments are the lifeblood of any economic activity, especially in global markets. He stressed that there are no fixed, standard patterns for international settlements, they are arranged case-by-case. The Congress therefore offered itself as a platform for experience sharing and networking.
During the event’s three sessions, more than 20 speakers, including top managers and experts of banks, lawyers, economists, business leaders - shared their knowledge, experience and best practices in the field of international payments, answered questions from the audience, including through online chat. The guests could also enjoy the comfort and informal setting of networking areas to exchange ideas and find new partners.
The Congress focused in particular on letters of credit and documentary collection as a form of non-cash settlements, bank guarantee as a way to ensure contract fulfilment, use of micro-guarantees, contesting payments under bank guarantees and letters of credit, modern token use trends, transition to blockchain banking instruments and much more.
Olga Kladukhina, Head of Marketing Department, Bynex cryptocurrency platform:
- Our company attended the International Payments Congress to look at alternative settlement options in the current setting. The event’s agenda is very relevant for us, since everything that has to do with finance and external markets is part of our daily work. We learnt a lot of new things here, borrowed some other companies’ best practices, discovered new opportunities offered by banks. I also note the convenient online chat, wh ere one could ask questions and promptly get answers both fr om panel speakers and the audience. It proved a really open dialogue and a genuine exchange of experience.
Natalia Golota, Director of JSC ENEF:
- Before the sanctions, we used to sell a lot of our products to the European market. Under the new circumstances, we had to shift to other destinations. As a result, we managed to keep up the export volumes, which now stand at 80 per cent of the earlier figures. Despite this however, difficulties with international payments persist. We had to open accounts at six different banks, as one bank failed to meet our needs. We learnt a lot of new things during this forum, in particular that many banks provide new types of services for international settlements. It is good to know that they keep moving, develop, create new tools to help the business. We will surely turn to them for help. I wonder only, why the banks did not tell us about all this in the first place.
Alexander Kulesh, Deputy Director General, Profistil LLC:
- All the traditional tools that were discussed during the Congress are not new, they have been around for some time. The banks, wh ere we have our accounts, invited us to use them. But the big problem is that our clients are not yet ready. Our partner companies’ management come from an older generation. They are not at ease with complex banking solutions and prefer not to bother. They are much more comfortable working the old way. The only idea I take home, is about bank guarantee as a way to secure the return of prepayments - it's worth a try. And, of course, it was interesting to hear about alternative settlements methods. That’s because we also have payment difficulties. Sometimes even sending Chinese yuan to China becomes an issue: from time to time one stumbles into compliance problems, especially when there are sanctioned goods involved.
Vadim Radiuk, Deputy Director, Energopromis LLC:
- Our company has exactly the same problems with international settlements, as the rest. They have to do with cross-border payments and contract breach safeguards. Understandably, some questions were left unanswered at the Congress, for every business has its own needs. But we took on board some insights and added new pieces into the puzzlework of our future strategy. We realised that we need to go to banks and make deals with them – that’s the bottom-line. We had had this idea before, but now there is an understanding, which banks to go to. And we are really awed by the knowledge and expertise of the speakers we have seen and heard here.
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