Business news

On 8 June Andrei Savinykh met with representatives of the management of a number of major Turkish banks. Andrei Savinykh and Isbank Deputy Director General Ilhami Koc discussed the development of Belarusian-Turkish trade, economic, investment and interbank cooperation. The negotiations focused on getting the Turkish bank involved in mechanisms meant to provide financial support for Belarusian export, including the program on crediting consumers of Belarusian sophisticated-technology products by subsidizing part of the interest rate and the system of preferential loans for Belarusian exports available via the Development Bank of the Republic of Belarus.

The sides exchanged views regarding the prospects of Isbank’s investing in the Belarusian banking industry. Andrei Savinykh and Ilhami Koc discussed the possibility of using Belarusian rubles and Turkish liras for export and import operations between Belarusian and Turkish economic operators.

The Belarusian diplomat met with Ali Koray Erden, Head of the Foreign Loans Office of the Turkish export-import bank Turk EximBank. The sides discussed the use of the Turkish bank’s credit resources for financing investment projects, which are being implemented in Belarus with the assistance of Turkish companies.

Apart from that, during the working visit to Istanbul Andrei Savinykh held negotiations with Ahmet Kirman, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sisecam Group. During the meeting the sides discussed prospects of cooperation between Sisecam Group and Belarusian glass industry enterprises in the area of trade, investments, and joint manufacturing of new kinds of glass products.

The holding company Sisecam Group was founded in 1935 and is now the absolute leader of the Turkish glass industry. Sisecam Group’s products are exported to 150 countries across the globe. The annual output of main products stands at 3.8 million tonnes of glass and 2.1 million tonnes of sodium carbonate. Annual sales exceed $3 billion.

Isbank is Turkey’s largest private bank in terms of assets (about $10.4 billion) and the volume of loans. According to the Financial Times ranking, Isbank occupies the 110^th position on the list of the world’s largest banks. Turk Eximbank is a state-owned bank established to provide support to foreign trade operations of Turkish exporters, general contractors, and investors. The bank’s assets are close to $14.5 billion.