OREANDA-NEWS. February 25, 2011. The workshop, entitled “Quick and Easy Credit: Financial Support for SME Business”, was held at Uniastrum’s banking center on Krasnodar Street, Moscow. Specialists from Uniastrum and Moscow’s Small Enterprise Credit Assistance Fund were on hand to answer questions, reported the press-centre of Uniastrum Bank.

The workshop on loan terms, financial and material support for SMEs was attended by business owners from Moscow and the Moscow region. Particular attention was paid to government-administered schemes for local enterprises, including Uniastrum’s partnership with the Moscow Small Enterprise Credit Assistance Fund. The benefits and features of the Fund’s guarantee program were outlined in a talk given by MSECAF’s leading expert on regional development Stanislav Karpel.

Questions on Uniastrum’s SME borrowing conditions and range of credit options were answered by Yelena Malyaeva, Manager of the Bank’s Krasnodar Street office. Uniastrum’s working relationship with Moscow City Hall and its participation in the Russian Bank for Development’s government-sponsored SME assistance program, under which Uniastrum extends loans to small and midsized businesses at 12.5% APR, proved a topic of great interest. By the end of the workshop, participants said they would be looking to do business with the Bank, moving forward.

“Hosting open workshops is one way of improving entrepreneurs’ financial literacy in that it enables them to obtain answers to questions they have regarding their particular area of business, the available options and necessary requirements,” notes Svetlana Chubakova, Uniastrum’s Vice President for Small Business Development. “We remain committed to sustaining our ongoing productive dialogue with small and medium-sized businesses and plan to hold a series of workshops dealing with SME borrowing not just in Moscow but also in other cities where Uniastrum has a presence.”