The event was hosted on the websites of the AEB and EY as well as broadcasted live to the offices of European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in Yekaterinburg, Krasnoyarsk and Rostov. 

Among speakers were Natalia Larionova, Director of SME Development and Competition Department of the RF Ministry of Economic Development; Agris Preimanis, Senior Economist, Financial Institutions, EBRD; Sergei Safonov, Partner, EY; Natasha Khanjenkova, Managing Director Russia, EBRD; Virgil Nae, Head of the European Investment Bank Permanent representation in the RF, as well as representatives of Bank URALSIB, Bank Vozrozhdenie, LLC Continental Kaluga and METRO Cash&Carry Russia. 

The sessions were moderated by Frank Schauff, AEB CEO, Stuart Lawson, AEB Finance and Investment Committee Chairman / Executive Director, EY, Orlin Efremov, AEB Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Committee Chairman / General Director, Performance Partners, as well as Kirill Semenov, Deputy Chairman of the Board, SME Bank. 

Topics discussed at the event were: work done to date by the international financial institutions and their coming plans; how the multinational companies cooperate with SMEs, the issues and opportunities; and existing financial programs for SMEs. 

The AEB kindly thanks EY and SME Bank (gold sponsors) and Transcapitalbank (sponsor).