The joint programme with the Russian Export Centre (REC) is designed to enhance client export potential and expertise in foreign economic affairs. The initiative offers training in target market analysis, negotiation with foreign counterparts, product economics, marketing, and other foreign trade activities. The programme commenced in late February and involved 11 SIBUR partners, including, Rosavtoplast, Tosol-Sintez, Europolymer, Bureaucrat, and Netkanika.

“This programme is unique in a sense that it was conceived by a business interested in building its client competencies”, said Alexey Kozhevnikov, Senior Vice President at REC. “Together with SIBUR we have launched a new product that is well positioned to become an indispensable tool for companies across industries seeking to enhance their export potential”.

“We are keen to strengthen our clients’ competitiveness to promote polymer processing and non-commodity exports. The programme serves as a platform for experience and knowledge sharing with our clients, which, I hope, will shortly bring in new export contracts,” said Yulia Rumyantseva, Director of Composite Materials and Pipes at SIBUR, and programme coordinator.

The training consists of three modules, upon completion of which participants write their own product export cases so that, going forward, they are able to develop and run successful export projects. Each module lasts two days and is followed by a 1.5-month hiatus, during which participants do their “homework”. Throughout the course, they work in close collaboration with experts from SIBUR and REC.

The first training module dealt with the life cycle of an export project, covering potential risks, markets, customers, foreign regulation compliance, product certification, intellectual property rights, negotiations with foreign partners, e-commerce opportunities, and government support. The initiative engaged experienced experts and instructors from PAL LLC (Alibaba Group’s Service Partner in Russia), SAP, and the Russian Foreign Trade Academy under the Ministry of Economic Development.

“For all of us, tapping export markets is a major challenge that requires additional motivation and support. The training has helped me gain the confidence I needed and realise that there are no insurmountable obstacles as long as you are not afraid to tackle them. We are very grateful to SIBUR for the willingness to invest in clients,” said Ekaterina Kaminskaya from Bureaucrat.

“What the module gave me is information presented in a very detailed and structured way. Prior to taking the course, I had lots of unconnected facts in my head, but had difficulty bringing them together in a coherent framework,” commented Mikhail Nikitin from Netkanika.

Some of the topics covered in the second module included exporter’s competitiveness, types and instruments of export financing, financial risks and ways to mitigate them, international transport logistics and its impact on transaction value, customs clearance and related procedures, etc.

Second module’s participants. Photo: exportcenter.ru.

The course instructors included Doctor of Economics Artem Azarchenkov, Deputy CEO at VTK-Consulting, Maria Isakova, Head of Logistics and Order Management at Lanxess, Anton Sharafan, Senior Expert on Transport Subsidy Management at REC, Dr Elena Popova, Deputy Head, Inwest Multimodal’s Moscow Office, Associate Professor at the Department of Customs Affairs and Foreign Trade of the Moscow Social and Economic Institute, and Vadim Ivanishchev and Elena Kurganova managers at SIBUR’s Economic Support of Functions and Debt Financing divisions, respectively.

The most important was the third module during which participants had to demonstrate what they had learned at the previous two modules and received feedback from the programme coordinators.

“The topics covered in the training modules of SIBUR and REC are very relevant to our business model. Exports is a completely new area for us, as we are just starting this journey. The expertise we have gained through this programme is extremely important and will provide a much needed boost to our export endeavours,” said Andrey Makeev from Rosavtoplast.

“We have already put into practice some of the things we learned at the exports training offered by SIBUR and REC. In particular, we have implemented product identification and risk hedging procedures, and are looking to accomplish our ambitious plans of increasing our exports from 2% to 10% over the next five years. Thanks to this project, private exporters have learned to interact with the government, reach out to potential partners, and pursue stable development strategies,” noted Ludmila Narezhnaya from Europolymer.

The Export Accelerator has helped SIBUR partners to tap into new opportunities and markets. Following the course, Sinikon presented a case study of an export project to supply polypropylene pipes for sewage systems. Another training participant, Bytplast has won a tender to supply decorated food containers to the French hypermarket chain Leclerc.

Experts believe that nationwide support for Russian exporters opens up new horizons and provides motivation for the business to help promote domestic producers in international markets.

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