01.04.10 Interview with Mr. Anatoliy Pokhodzyayev, Chairman of Investment Committee of the Leasing Company Universalna Ltd.

Summary

Anatoliy Pokhodzyayev
Anatoliy Pokhodzyayev is the Chairman of Investment Committee of the Leasing Company Universalna Ltd. and has been working for this company since its foundation. Before joining the company Anatoliy worked for different financial institutions and consulting companies. This experience contributed to the successful exploration of the  new business area of leasing as the company had to be built from the ground up and needed a strategy for market entering, staff recruitment and training, business processes development.

Over the years of its presence in Ukrainian market the company made its way from a new-comer to the market leader. Today the clients of Universalna are well-known Ukrainian companies and SME, private individuals.  The company has a reputation of a reliable partner which results in high clients’ loyalty.

The company takes active part in promoting and developing Ukrainian leasing market as there are still many enterprises unaware of leasing procedures and advantages. Anatoliy was one of the authors of the first Ukrainian Leasing Manual published in 2009 under Access to Credit Initiative (ATCI) funded by USAID.

— You have been the Chairman of the company since its foundation. In your opinion, what are the major achievements of the company over these years?
— We entered the market in 2005 when it started to develop actively. We financed our first project in March, 2006. For the years of company’s presence we realized 209 leasing projects amounting to UAH 90 million. We are one of the active companies offering leasing services for individuals.

We gained a high customers’ loyalty. When a higher market competition occurred many our lessees remained loyal though other companies sometimes offered more favorable leasing conditions.

We developed a highly professional approach to staff recruitment and development and I can say it with confidence that any employee of my company would leave behind most of the specialists working in other companies.

— Due to International Economic Companies’ Rating established in accordance with European Standard Rating your company was one of the top 5 leasing companies by the results of  2008-2009. What is the secret of your success?
— This can be explained probably by our decision to diversify portfolio. We gave up on big clients in favor of leasing for SME and individuals, in favor of more contracts in different economic areas and according to results of 2008-2009 we are among top 3 leading companies.

As for the secret of success, it is first of all in my team: the people who worked and are still working in our company. I would also like to mention the clear strategy we always stuck to. And finally – it’s our working according to international standards, business ethics and values, individual approach to every client and our
constant quest for excellence that led us to success.

— How did the crisis affect your business? Many companies were forced to postpone plans for the future due to difficult market situation. Did you also have to give up some of your plans?
— Of course the pace of growth slowed down but thanks to the right approach of diversifying the leasing portfolio, sources of funds and assets we are now in a good financial standing and show profit. Certainly we had to give up most of our plans. Such plans as increase of portfolio, expanding representatives’ network and mastering new leasing flows became impossible. Moreover, most our efforts today are aimed at handling non-performing projects and selling alienated property.  This is actually what many other leasing companies are busy with nowadays. Besides this actively cooperate with banks in terms of financing new leasing projects.

— Crisis is a hard time. Nevertheless, it’s considered to be the starting point for many prospects.   Does it inspire you with new ideas?
— For us running a business under crisis conditions is a challenge, experience and a test for stability. Crisis surely requires the review of all business processes and segments, which is already an effective measure. Reduction of the employees’ number increased the efficiency and delivery of those who remained.  Limited funds require more profound management of money flows. As the number of bad loans increased we came to reduction of average sum of agreement and increased requirements for new leasing projects. Banks’ refusal to finance new projects made us develop compromise settlements those taking into account interests and capacities of banks, lessees and of course leasing companies. Our company was the one to introduce the following projects: Selling Banks’ Pledged Property through Leasing and The Leasing Ring-Buoy.

— What are your optimistic and pessimistic forecasts as to the further market development? Can one claim that the market is coming out of the recession?
— Should some economic or political distresses take place, the market may sink even more significantly. My opinion - which is based upon an optimistic forecast - is that the industry will be coming out of the crisis at the end of the year in the best case scenario, and to be realistic – in the next year.

— What are your impressions from the participation in the Spring Business Forum 2009?
— While the financial crisis and uncertainty in Ukraine, the Spring Business Forum 2009 became a great venue to exchange experiences, business ideas, and suggestions as to how to cooperate in the complex environment. At the Forum, representatives of all business lines from various levels and from various countries meet. As for me, the most important thing is that the participants get positive energy and belief in the future of their businesses, projects, and in themselves.

Review

Leasing company Universalna was founded in November, 2005 by  Universal Capital AG and Emerging Market Partners Ltd.

Leasing company Universalna started to provide financial leasing services in March, 2006. Today the company is the leader on the market of financial services, it gained partners’ respect and clients’ trust and is one of the top 10 market leaders. Over the years of its presence the company realized 209 leasing projects. The feature of the company is servicing both legal entities and individuals.