Over the NBD-Bank's twenty years much has changed both in the banking market and inside the credit organization - new programs, products, partners, clients have appeared. The Bank has overcome two major crises, and assembled a great team of professionals. However, its main business line - comprehensive support of the regional small and medium business - remained unchanged. In the following interview Alexandr SHARONOV, Chairman of Board of NBD-Bank, told NBJ about the Bank's activities.

NBJ: This year NBD-Bank is celebrating its twentieth anniversary. For Russian banks 20 years is a remarkable age, given youth of the national banking market. In this regard - the first question: will you please tell us about the Bank's most significant achievements over this period?

A.SHARONOV: Over the twenty years we have accumulated our own extensive client base, developed trust partnership relations with many clients. NBD-Bank has a very stable staff: about one third of the employees have been working for the Bank for more than 10 years.

The Bank has a wide network of institutional lender both inside Russia and worldwide, has good international ratings.

Considering the aggregate of all these factors, we can positively say that we have made it as a credit organization, and that currently we are a considerably stable regional bank.

NBJ: Last year two rating agencies -Moody's Investor Service and RusRating - all at once upgraded NBD-Bank's rating. Which factors were taken into account by these agencies when making such decision?

A. SHARONOV: I believe Moody's Investor Service and RusRating did justice to the results of our efforts to improve the credit portfolio quality. It's not a secret that since the breakout of the crisis (late 2008) the deterioration in macroeco-nomical performance affected many enterprises, and respectively the financial standing of many banks became tougher, and the credit portfolio quality deteriorated. The years that followed - 2010 and 2011 - were not in vain. We had to do a lot of work, and the bank's eventual performance in this period was evaluated on its merits - the rating agencies upgraded our ratings. This enabled us to provide funding (raise funds to credit small and medium business) at more interesting prices. In turn, this implies good opportunities for the further development of business.

NBJ: In 2011 your Bank managed to demonstrate an impressive growth of profits as compared to the year 2010. Please tell what enabled you to achieve that growth.

A. SHARONOV: I suppose what came into action in that case was the effect of an undervalued base as compared with the previous period. In 2009 and 2010 the Bank was forming reserves for the credits whose quality deteriorated with the outbreak of the crisis, and by the late 2010 this process was almost complete. In 2011 we achieved the profit performance comparable to the pre-crisis one. That is why such difference between the performance indicators in 2010 and20ii appeared.

NBJ: Which business directions are viewed by NBD-Bank as the key ones?

A. SHARONOV: We were, we are, and we will be a bank working with the small and medium business. That is a strategic direction for us, that is our target client audience.

NBJ: NBD-Bank is a regional bank. According to your estimates, what is the current competitive situation in the banking business areas you are engaged in?

A. SHARONOV: The market competition arises, and it's going to become only tougher over time. That's a normal situation: that's what competitors are for, not to let us and make us move forward. At the same time in what concerns the work with the small and medium business the regional banks have always had, and will continue to have a competitive advantage over both the federal Russian banks and the western credit organizations.

NBJ: And what is that competitive advantage about?

A. SHARONOV: A regional bank is always closer to the borrower at the «decision point».

Respectively, we can more promptly and flexibly respond to the specifics of each given borrower, to its unique requirements or features. Any major structure must be strictly formatted and have duly established business processes. However, the more rigid the processes are, the less is the flexibility, and the harder it is to respond to the special needs of any given client. Here one has to choose between the "conveyor' and the "custom made".

NBJ: NBD-Bank won in the nomination «Lending to small and medium business» following the results of the Nizhny Novgorod Bank Award-2011. How did the small and medium business credit portfolio change lately?

A. SHARONOV: The small and medium business credit portfolio grew by 26% in 2011 as compared with 2010. Following the results of the ist quarter of 2012 NBD-Bank's credit portfolio increased by almost 5%. As I said earlier, we believe small and medium business to be the most promising direction in terms of our Bank's business development. And what makes us sure of that is the following figures: already now in Nizhny Novgorod region 36% of the population is engaged in the small and medium business, while 15 years ago such population's share was as much as 5-7%. But in the European countries the same figure reaches 60%, which means that Russia still has room to grow.