Banking and Finance Law

A Belarusian company can use support in the form of an export loan to increase attractiveness of its goods in foreign markets. The exporter receives the value of the goods immediately after delivery, and the foreign purchaser will pay this value to their bank for several months.

Such scheme reduces the risks of Belarusian companies associated with non-receiving of payment and forced debt collection.

If the cost of loans in Belarusian banks leaves much to be desired, there are always possibilities to consider alternative methods of raising loan funds. They include direct loans of foreign banks and international financial organizations, issuing bonds in Belarus and abroad, attracting a foreign investor as one of the members (shareholders) of a Belarusian company, etc.

Only experts who have participated in similar projects can assess advantages and disadvantages of each of these variants.

First impression of the counterparty can be deceptive, particularly when it comes to significant financial risks. Verification of information on the counterparty, which experts will receive both from reliable government sources and through their contacts, will help reduce the probability of non-performance of obligations, litigation, claims from government bodies.

Even if negotiations participants have worked in the same field for a long time, it does not guarantee successful negotiations. Sometimes, a third-party assistant in negotiations can see the obstacles to prompt achievement of positive results, such as conclusion of a contract, receiving a delay in payments, reduction of penalties, etc.

One of the requirements of foreign credit and financial organizations is obtaining an independent legal opinion of the fact that the deal to be concluded with a Belarusian company does not contradict the local law requirements.

Apart from the formal part, obtaining such opinion allows the parties to ensure that all mandatory requirements (currency regulation, antitrust laws, etc.) have been observed and will not entail negative consequences (damage to goodwill, penalties) for the business.