KUKE has been recognized as the world's best institution supporting entrepreneurs in foreign expansion and received the title of Best Export Credit Agency in the prestigious Leaders in Trade competition, organized by the industry magazine Global Trade Review. The award was presented at a gala in London, which honored winners in 29 categories and 12 Best Deals in international trade and project finance.
"This title is the culmination of the immense work we have done in recent years. New solutions supporting domestic and foreign investments of Polish companies, green guarantees for financing the energy transition, and much greater activity in the market for infrastructure investments in developing countries, resulting in the inclusion of Polish producers and contractors in supply chains. Add to this our swift response to changing market situations, including being a leader in the reconstruction of Ukraine. All of this was achieved through effective cooperation with governments of many countries, international development institutions, and commercial banks worldwide. This has built our global recognition as a trusted and innovative partner, who is eagerly invited to a variety of transactions. Few Polish financial institutions can boast such recognition, not to mention being appreciated with such prestigious awards. We treat this award also as an encouragement for further action".
Janusz Władyczak, CEO of KUKE
The shortlist for the Best Export Credit Agency title included KUKE and Etihad Credit Insurance from the United Arab Emirates. Last year, KUKE finished second in the competition, just behind Sweden’s EKN.
This year, GTR’s editorial team was supported by an independent advisory panel of respected industry experts to help evaluate submissions for the Global Leaders in Trade Awards.
In addition to KUKE, representatives of the following entities signed the memorandum: Atradius Dutch State Business (Netherlands), EDC (Canada), EGAP (Czech Republic), EKN (Sweden), Euler Hermes (Germany), EIFO (Denmark), Finnvera (Finland), PricewaterhouseCoopers (Germany), NEXI (Japan), SACE (Italy), UKEF (UK) and USEXIM (USA). They agree to continue supporting Ukraine in cooperation and to establish an exchange format for sharing experiences.
"We demonstrate our will to support Ukraine more actively in its efforts to rebuild and modernize the economy. Since the beginning of the war, we have advocated the creation of international guarantee mechanisms to enhance safe investments and trade with Ukraine. At KUKE, we have created a comprehensive support program for Polish companies that supply Ukrainian market, invest there or want to rebuild the country. Since the outbreak of the war, we have covered Polish exports worth nearly USD 1 billion realising only marginal loss ratio. Hence we are in a position to share our experience and provide know-how for other parties to increase safely its trade, investments and partnerships with Ukrainian businesses."
Katarzyna Kowalska, Vice-President and CRO of KUKE
To develop practical solutions to address the challenges of applying export and investment promotion in Ukraine, the operational focus of the memorandum centers on contact between experts and practitioners from the respective institutions. The participants expect the joint commitment to use existing flexibilities in the cover policy, the possible optimization of support instruments based on an exchange of best practices, and the proactive use of risk-sharing opportunities between the participants of the memorandum to substantially strengthen the support instruments to the benefit of Ukraine.
The initial signatories call on other countries to join the network to support Ukraine in the future. The aim is to build a broad and strong coalition of financial institutions for Ukraine.
"The combination of our capabilities will strengthen the shield against political and war risk available to not only Polish companies but also entities using Poland as a hub for establishing or expanding their business in Ukraine. We see strong interest on the Polish side in developing economic ties with Ukraine as our export dynamics proves, though the risks stemming from the ongoing war deter from investing on a larger scale. KUKE was leading the ECA community in opening up the Ukrainian market to export and investment cover. We are ready to insure commercial, political and force majeure risks of planned investments as well as the existing ones to make entrepreneurs feel safe and encourage them to accelerate their involvement in recovery of Ukraine. This is our priority, but then we hope for joint transaction in other markets where we can assist Polish companies to carry on sustainable investments and mitigate their risks."
Katarzyna Kowalska, Vice-President and CRO of KUKE
"During this time of immense difficulty caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, we remain committed to expanding our support to the Ukrainian government and the private sector. Our insurance and reinsurance products have played a vital role in sustaining the Ukrainian economy’s resilience during the ongoing war and supporting much needed foreign investment."
Hiroshi Matano, Executive Vice President of MIGA
MIGA is also exploring reinsurance support for Ukrainian projects with other European export credit agencies. The Agency has been collaborating with the Ukrainian government, development partners, and the international investment community interested in risk mitigation and market insights.
MIGA has been among very few providers of political risk insurance in Ukraine, including cover for war and civil disturbance, issuing more than $215 million in coverage since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. MIGA’s coverage was made possible by donor contributions to the Support for Ukraine Reconstruction and Economy Trust Fund (SURE TF) which complements MIGA’s own risk capacity. Through these efforts, MIGA has supported new and existing cross-border investors in Ukraine. MIGA’s guarantees serve as a key risk mitigation tool, ensuring the continuity of private sector operations and investments for the country’s continued economic activity during the ongoing conflict.
KUKE signed an agreement with its Turkish counterpart Türk Eximbank on reciprocal reinsurance of export financing and investment transactions. The ceremony took place at the headquarters of the Turkish bank in Istanbul, and the documents were signed by CEO of KUKE, Janusz Władyczak and Vice-President, Katarzyna Kowalska, and on behalf of Türk Eximbank, by CEO Ali Güney and Deputy CEO Hakan Uzun.
Thanks to the agreement, KUKE will be able to insure the financing of projects in third countries with the participation of a partner from Türkiye, in which entities from Poland will be involved. In some cases, it will also be possible for a partner to join projects carried out either in Poland or Türkiye.
“At KUKE, we notice and appreciate the activity of Turkish companies that conduct numerous projects in developing countries related to the development of infrastructure. Over recent years, they have gained extensive experience, becoming entities responsible for important investments in African and Asian countries. However, they often need reliable suppliers or subcontractors ensuring high quality of service for complex and multi-stage projects. Hence our initiative to conclude a reinsurance agreement with Turk Eximbank, which has been supporting the foreign activities of Turkish companiess for years. Thanks to this cooperation, it will be easier for Polish companies to join projects carried out by contractors from Türkiye, as they will have backing of financial guarantees from KUKE. We are therefore integrating two areas, informing about available contracts with Turkish partners as part of our Shop in Poland solution and providing financial instruments securing the participation of Polish entrepreneurs in implemented projects".
Janusz Władyczak, president of KUKE
Recently, the intensity of our business contacts with partners from Türkiye has increased significantly. KUKE secured the financing of large railway projects in this country, to which suppliers from Poland were invited.
"Türk Eximbank is the sole official export credit agency of Türkiye, supporting transactions in foreign markets through its direct lending, guarantee and insurance mechanisms. We actively provide finance to Turkish exports all over the world and we will be more than glad to jointly support our exporters’ collaboration with Polish companies in third countries in regions such as Africa, Central Asia and Eastern Europe".
Ali Güney, CEO of Turk Eximbank
We will be present at five events:
- TXF MENA 2024
- TXF Global 2024
- TXF Asia 2024
- TXF Africa 2024
- TXF Dealmakers 2024.
TXF's mission is to connect finance communities sustainably. TXF provides B2B market information in the trade, export, development and project finance sectors. As part of its activities, TXF organizes international events focused around these industries.
We can't wait for the first meeting at TXF MENA 2024 in Dubai!
Ranking of the most promising directions for Polish foreign investments
Although currently most Polish direct investments are located in Europe (over 84% in terms of cumulative value in 2020), and companies most often indicate nearby European destinations as potential new investment locations, there are many other, less obvious directions with a significant unexplored potential.
The report "Polish foreign investments: new trends and directions" presents the most interesting of them, taking into account the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the attractiveness of individual countries. The ranking favors countries that have coped relatively best with the effects of the pandemic in terms of the inflow of foreign direct investment. It was also decided to try to map the impact of current geopolitical events on short-term investor sentiment.
In the basic ranking of the most promising destinations for Polish foreign investments, the highest places were taken by: India, Finland, Estonia, Israel and Chile. These are rapidly growing markets, taking many initiatives to increase their business attractiveness to foreign investors.
“When choosing the direction and specific goal of a foreign investment, it should be remembered that they must fit into the company's long-term development strategy. These cannot be decisions detached from the company’s business model”.
Piotr Kuba, Member of the Management Board responsible for Investments at PFR TFI
Cooperation and support in the implementation of foreign investments
In addition to the ranking, the report also presents the results of research carried out on a sample of 240 medium and large Polish enterprises. They clearly show how important the first experiences on foreign markets are for the next steps in the international development of companies.
“Companies that have already learned about the specifics of doing business abroad can see the benefits and profits it can bring. Among the surveyed companies investing abroad, almost 60 percent announced willingness for further expansion”.
Paweł Oleszczuk, Vice Director at PwC Polska
The situation is the opposite in the group of enterprises that do not invest abroad - the vast majority of 80 percent has no specific plans in this regard. This shows that it is worth encouraging companies to expand abroad and showing them the benefits associated with it. Solutions offered by institutions such as the Foreign Expansion Fund managed by PFR TFI or KUKE, may be helpful here. Working with them can facilitate and accelerate international business development.
Global trends on the foreign direct investment market
The authors of the report present the key trends on the foreign direct investment (FDI) market and point to their importance for Polish companies. These trends could have been observed before, but the Covid-19 pandemic turned out to be their accelerator. The most important phenomena include: securing supply chains, screening foreign direct investment and increasing protectionism, the e-commerce revolution, reducing the carbon footprint and implementing ESG practices, as well as new technologies and the use of artificial intelligence.
“The Covid-19 pandemic, the e-commerce revolution, the need to secure supply chains are factors that make the approach to FDI change dynamically. One of the responses to these phenomena is the regionalization of investments and the formation of state blocs. You can also see that more and more countries are introducing procedures that hamper foreign investment”.
Janusz Władyczak, President and CEO of KUKE
Dowload the report i Polish
KUKE guarantees will secure investment loans granted to exporters
The agreement between Bank Ochrony Środowiska and KUKE covers cooperation in offering payment guarantees for loans granted to exporters. These instruments, guaranteed by the State Treasury, secure the bank up to 80 percent of the value of the loan granted for the implementation of investments in Poland aimed at boosting the company's export potential.
“Pursuing its mission, Bank Ochrony Środowiska is constantly expanding its product offer, also focusing on exporters or companies that are just considering foreign expansion. Green transformation is not only a challenge, but also a great market opportunity for Polish enterprises. Renewable energy sources and other green technologies are a promising market where there is still room for new players”.
Robert Kasprzak, Vice President of Bank Ochrony Środowiska
Both institutions also intend to educate Polish entrepreneurs on the possibility of internationalization of their activities, as well as support them in finding business partners or interesting projects on foreign markets, in which they can participate as suppliers or subcontractors.
“Polish exporters emerged from the pandemic in good shape, expanding their sales markets and confirming the attractiveness of their offer. Unfortunately, the Russian aggression against Ukraine has significantly worsened the prospects for international trade recovering from the pandemic. The WTO recently lowered its forecasts of global trade growth significantly to just 3 percent this year. But even in such an unfavorable environment, Polish goods have a chance to reach new recipients on different continents. The joint offer of financing the development of Polish exporters by BOŚ Bank and KUKE will certainly make it easier for them to compete in the international environment, because few countries provide such a wide range of aid instruments that start with supporting investments on the domestic market. We are ready to cooperate with small companies and the largest enterprises from the entire cross-section of the Polish economy that want to make investments that increase their production capacity or improve conditions for further growth. We also hope for many transactions related to the green transformation, in which BOŚ Bank specializes in financing, and which are currently very popular not only in Poland”.
Janusz Władyczak, President and CEO of KUKE
Who can take advantage of the guarantee
The guarantee can be used by enterprises that are already exporters or finance their domestic investments in BOŚ Bank to generate exports. This means that either:
- the project should be implemented by an enterprise whose sum of revenues from export sales in selected three out of the last five annual reporting periods before the guarantee is granted is not less than 20 percent. revenues for the same selected periods;
- or the investment within three years after completion will generate a minimum of 20 percent export sales revenues.
The guarantee can cover up to 80 percent of the loan, the amount of which cannot be lower than PLN 5 million.
Export support system
Export development guarantee belongs to the export support system introduced last year, which enables banks to secure various types of financing granted to exporters. It includes guarantees and insurance for e.g. working capital loans for exporters or loans for acquisition or financing direct investments made by Polish entrepreneurs in foreign markets.
As part of one of the most comprehensive export support systems in Europe, KUKE introduced new instruments and modified the offer of existing solutions. In addition to the aforementioned, there are, among others, guarantees of repayment of liabilities to suppliers, which are so important in the search for new sources of supply, and guarantees for financing the supply chain, which help exporters, inter alia, obtain additional funds from banks and factoring companies. In turn, as part of the Shop in Poland program, KUKE is actively looking for Polish entrepreneurs willing to participate through the export of goods or services - "without leaving home" - in infrastructure projects in the most remote corners of the world, in which the insurer is financially involved. For all solutions, the procedures and document requirements have been simplified, the scope of goods and services covered by them and the possibilities of their use have been expanded.
The use of these instruments strengthens the exporter's financial capacity, positively influencing its relations with financing banks and contractors, enabling a significant increase in the scale of operations. KUKE's new offer has been used by many companies from various industries, from automotive, steel, through food, chemical and shipbuilding.