«The actual convertibility of the Russian ruble greatly depends on its attractiveness as a saving or a settlement source. And here is much to do ahead. In particular, Russian currency has to become much more universal for the international settlement of payments and has to consequently widen the boundaries of its sphere of influence. For this purpose it is essential to establish the exchange trading of oil, gas and other commodities on the territory of Russian Federation. I mean trading in rubles. We trade our commodities worldwide. Why don’t we do it here?»
Vladimir Putin
Address to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation May 10, 2006
Moscow, the Kremlin, the Marble Hall
Saint-Petersburg International Mercantile exchange
Exchange establishment in Russia is directly associated with Peter I who studied the activity of the Dutch stock exchanges during his training as a shipbuilder on the shipyards of the Netherlands. At his initiative the first trading-broker establishments were found in Russia. Therefore, it is possible to say that Saint-Petersburg International Mercantile exchange (SPIMEX) is the successor of the first Petrovskaya exchange in Saint-Petersburg. In fact, the seal of SPIMEX has figure "2" on it.
In the system of commercial relations among the Russian domestic enterprises nowadays a well-established commodity market becomes more and more demanded. The main goal of the exchange is to establish an organized commodity market which concentrates supply and demand and at the same time creates a clear and transparent mechanism to form fair prices for basic raw commodities. A well-established exchange develops a system which guarantees the settlement of concluded transactions, facilitates the liquidity of commodity market which implies growth in popularity of the organized exchanged trade through the exchange infrastructure. SPIMEX is a legal entity aimed at forming the wholesale market by establishing and regulating the exchange trade carried out in a form of electronic auctions hold at the pre-agreed premises and in time subject to SPIMEX regulations.
Exchange trade is mainly targeted onto the development of price-forming mechanisms applied to a variety of goods denoted for the exchange auctions on the market. The traditional price-forming mechanism pursues the following scheme: sellers and buyers cooperate on anonymous basis, i.e. not seeing one another. Some declare their goods for sale, pricing the offer; others announce their intention to buy, forming the price of demand. The Seller wants to sell the goods at the ceiling charge, and the Buyer aspires to mark the price down. Nevertheless the Seller’s intention to encash the goods forces to reduce the offered price, and the Buyer’s desire to buy forces to increase the price demanded. At a certain time the proposed prices intersect and close a transaction, reflecting feasible market conditions on the given goods. It is the most translucent and true mechanism to sell the goods at a fair price.
In order to meet the demand of the major dealers on the Russian market of oil products and provide a fair price-forming mechanism through a planned trade system and a complex of information services, SPIMEX has formed a sector of Oil Products based on an integrated technological platform. Clearing services at SPIMEX are implemented through a designated organization. In fact it’s an acknowledged world-wide practice for the scheme of technological and operational infrastructure building.
Formed by the specialized project offices of Gazprombank and RDK (JSC) the working group diligently and proactively developed a process flow scheme establishing a clearing company with a modern clearing and payment system for the organized market of goods and derivative products highly competitive with the existing international clearing houses. Applying these process flow schemes RDK (JSC) fulfills a clearing function, handles the principle of “delivery versus payment”, operates as a depositary for the warehouse certificates for different types of goods, guarantees transactions with securities and in whole provides the basis for the system of modern risk management and transactionsforumspb guaranteeing. The process flow scheme has at least two essential differences from those applied at the present moment.
First of all, the settlement of payments within the clearing procedures is planned through the interaction with the major Russian banks which guarantee high quality and constant servicing for SPIMEX trade participants. Secondly, the scheme is very flexible and it allows developing effective interaction with SPIMEX and other trading venues as well as with various supervisors of deliveries of a wide range of goods. In addition to oil products SIMEX intends to establish the trading floor for metals, grain and construction materials