Ukraine’s IBcontacts and the Lebanese Credit Insurer (LCI) have signed a contract for strategic collaboration in credit insurance.

Under the agreement, the Lebanese export credit agency has authorised IBcontacts to implement credit researches and assign credit ratings to Ukrainian companies intending to attract trade and project finance from Lebanon.

In the first nine months of 2012, exports volumes from Ukraine to Lebanon totalled US$12.27bn, a 27.7% increase on the same period of 2011, while imports from Lebanon to Ukraine remained stable. This created a trade surplus of US$1.2bn for Ukraine, its third largest surplus.

Among the most important goods exported from Ukraine to Lebanon are steel, agricultural products (wheat, corn, sunflower seed oil), and mineral fertilisers.

IBcontacts says: “At the intergovernmental level we have been discussing the possibility of Ukraine’s participation in the projects of construction of renewable energy objects (in particular, wind, solar and small hydro) in Lebanon. Also, the Ukrainian government is interested in long-term contracts for the supply of agricultural products in Lebanon.

“The potential of the Ukrainian-Lebanese trade and economic relations today is large enough, and co-operation between Ukrainian companies and their Lebanese partners will only expand in the future. The strategic collaboration of IBcontacts with LCI in the field of credit insurance and business information will help both Ukrainian and Lebanese companies discover new promising areas of export activities and expand commodity markets for their products.”

IBcontacts has similar agreements with more than 23 export credit agencies in 43 countries.