TGK-2 becomes new participant in SPARK-Payment Monitoring system for exchanging information about payment discipline

OJSC TGK-2 and Interfax International Information Services Group have signed an agreement on cooperation under which the heat and power company will become a new participant in the SPARK-Payment Monitoring system for exchanging information about payment discipline that Interfax launched in 2011.

The Payment Monitoring system is the first bureau of payment histories in Russia, to which suppliers of goods and services in various sectors voluntarily contribute information on a monthly basis about the timeliness of bill payments by customers that are legal entities and individual entrepreneurs. The system operates in full compliance with Russian laws.

Such programs to share information about payment discipline are already common practice in more than 40 countries, where they help to develop the commercial lending market and create a "zone of mutual trust" among market participants. In Russia, the system operates on the basis of SPARK, the largest information and analysis system on companies in Russia and a number of CIS countries, which annually processes more than 100 million queries.

TGK-2 joining the Payment Monitoring system is an important step on the path to strengthening the payment discipline of thermal energy consumer and reducing overdue receivables in the sector.

"In the current situation, when customers‘ debt to TGK-2 alone exceeds 9.37 billion rubles, we are obligated to use all possible tools to stabilize and further improve the situation with the debt burden on the company and the sector in general. I am confident that the capabilities of the SPARK-Payment Monitoring system will become an effective tool in working with consumers of energy resources in regard to preventing the generation of and settling receivables. The establishment of a shared system for monitoring payment discipline will make it possible to clearly show the whole chain of payments in the fuel and energy sector and its vulnerable points, as well as serve as an additional factor in assessing the information openness of companies," TGK-2 acting CEO Pyotr Zarubin said.

For responsible consumers of thermal energy who do not have much experience obtaining credit, TGK-2‘s participation in the Payment Monitoring system is a chance to establish themselves as a responsible partner and efficiently operating business, while delinquent customers will be stimulated to pay their bills on time.

The agreement also gives TGK-2 analysts concrete tools to improve work with receivables owed by customers that are legal entities and individual entrepreneurs, assess the risks of late payment for services and prevent nonpayments.

TGK-2‘s decision could become a signal to other leading heat and power companies about the possibilities of joining forces to combat nonpayments and incentivize consumers to pay their bills on time.

"Expanding companies‘ access to the tools of the SPARK-Payment Monitoring system is a good opportunity to support commercial lending, even in the current difficult economic conditions. The decision of TGK-2, one of the leading companies in the sector, to join our project is particularly important in this situation," Interfax Group First Deputy CEO Vladimir Gerasimov said.

TGK-2, one of the largest heat and power companies in the Northwest and Central federal districts of Russia, generates electricity and heat and sells steam and hot water to consumers. The company has plants in the Arkhangelsk, Vologda, Kostroma, Novgorod and Yaroslavl regions of Russia, as well as in Skopje, Macedonia.

Interfax Group is the largest private, diversified information services group in the CIS, and the recognized leader on the Russian information market in the B2B segment. The Group provides professional products for the media, government agencies and politicians, and applies the latest IT solutions to help businesses work on the financial and commodity markets, manage risks and conduct external communications.

SPARK-Payment Monitoring is the first system in Russia that gives users online access to the latest analytical data on the risks of payment delays with a breakdown by organization, region and sector. The system analyzes information about the timeliness of payments by corporate customers and individual entrepreneurs on bills issued by suppliers, which participants in the Payment Monitoring project submit to the system on a monthly basis. As of June 1, 2016, the system included information about the payment discipline of more than 400,000 companies and individual entrepreneurs in various regions of Russia.