Igor Rusnac, entrepreneur: “To create a successful international transportation business, you need to start as a simple truck driver”

Interview with Igor Rusnac, Microinvest client, founder of R. I. M Forward, international cargo transportation business.

In winter or summer, during a pandemic or on normal days, truck drivers carry out cargo transportation around the world, traveling long distances and overcoming all sorts of situations behind the wheel, to the final point and back. Igor Rusnac knows what it means to be a heavy truck driver.

In 2018, he founded his own trucking company for international transportation to the following destinations – Georgia, Turkey, Russia, and others. With the financial support of Microinvest, he managed to expand his business by purchasing new trucks. It all started with his first truck, which he drove for almost two years. That truck made the basis of R.I.M. Forward, which today has eight trucks and a whole team of drivers.

Tell us about your first experience as a truck driver.

Being a truck driver is interesting and difficult at the same time. To lay the foundations for successful international transportation business, you must first work as a simple driver, learn all the details of this work. My story as a truck driver began when I was 21 years old and I decided to get a category D and E license. A friend of my father was looking for a driver for a route to Russia and offered me a job. I had never driven such distances with a truck before, but the first trip was successful, I believed in my strength and got a pretty good paycheck. That’s how I became a truck driver and worked for almost two years.

How did you come up with the idea of opening a business in transportation?

My father came up with the idea. After working as a driver for a while, I decided to buy this truck on credit from Microinvest. To be honest, it was a very responsible decision, I knew that I would have to calculate everything as much detail as possible, especially the risks. And I became a driver of my own truck.

When we finished paying off the loan, my wife and I decided to start our own international trucking company. Maria is in charge of finances and accounting, and I am in charge of truck routes. We mainly transport colored glass to Georgia; we have an export contract with them. There are also import contracts with Moldovan companies. During the pandemic, we drove to different countries, such as Turkey, Serbia, Russia, Poland, Romania, etc. We carried furniture, mattresses, farm equipment, auto parts, and other goods.

What are the advantages of loans for business?

It is difficult to develop a successful business without loans. I think, 80-90% of all entrepreneurs work on credit. We took out a lot of loans and all of them were profitable because we knew how to invest the money properly. A loan is profitable, especially if you take it responsibly. For example, I know from the very beginning how much money a truck bought on credit will bring me, what my solvency is , what capital I can invest. There are and will be risks in any activity, especially in business. You just need to calculate them correctly and choose a reliable lender.

Why did you choose Microinvest?

Under advice. Today I also recommend this company to my acquaintances, because I have a great experience with it. Microinvest informed me very quickly of the decision on the first loan. I liked the approach to entrepreneurs, even the smallest ones, who are at the beginning of their path, as we were then. Since 2014, we have not had a single unclear situation or penalties. We have always been guided by the idea that the loan must be paid on time, and to do so every time. At first, we took out one loan, and until we paid it off, we did not apply for another. Now, when things are going better, we can afford to take out several loans at the same time.

* Microinvest is the only NCO in Moldova with the SMART international quality certificate. This certificate confirms a responsible and transparent lending process based on international customer service principles.

What are your plans?

We want to expand, buy new trucks and hire new drivers to our team. We are also open to new cooperation agreements with other countries. The pandemic adjusted our plans a little bit, but we still worked through the whole period and didn’t idle. Now everything has returned to normal, we are moving forward and we are constantly developing. We will also apply to Microinvest for financial support, where else? It is easy to cooperate with a partner like Microinvest, because everything already works on trust.

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Client's Name
Client's Surname
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Term
Rate
Amount
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Amount to receive
Purpose
Comments

1. Name and Contact Information of the Creditor
Creditor
Address
Phone number
Email Address
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3. Costs of the credit
Rates related to the credit
Annual Percentage Rate of Charge (APR) This is the total cost expressed as an annual percentage of the total amount of credit. The APR is there to help you compare different offers	%
In order to obtain the loan in accordance with the agreed terms and conditions, it is mandatory to conclude an insurance contract to guarantee the loan or a contract for another ancillary service.
Related costs
Any other costs deriving from the credit agreement	Fee for services rendered in relation to usage of credit, calculated and paid as follows: of the credit and paid by the Debtor on the date of granting the credit from own sources or is deducted by the Creditor from the amount of the credit The negotiation / prolongation of the credit can take place by mutual agreement of the parties, by signing an additional agreement, the Creditor being entitled to request an increase in the interest rate within the limits provided by the legislation in force. In case of negotiation / prolongation of the loan, the Borrower shall pay to the Creditor, at the date of the negotiation / prolongation a commission in the amount of 2% from the credit balance at the time of negotiation / prolongation.
Conditions under which the costs related to the credit agreement can be changed	The Sides can change the costs related to the credit by written agreement signed by both parties; For the non-constitution of the guarantees within the agreed term, the Creditor is entitled to calculate, and the Client will pay to the Creditor an Interest of delay in the amount of 5% annually, applied to of the daily balance for each day of delay, starting with the date following the term established for the constitution of the guarantee/ s and until the date of the proper execution of the respective obligation.
Obligation to pay for notarial fees / mortgage registration fees / fees for noting the prohibition of pledge in the Transport Register related to the pledge of means of transport (agricultural machinery)	Paid by the Client , except as otherwise provided in the pledge / mortgage agreement.
The cost for the valuation of real estate proposed in pledge	Paid by the Client directly to the Evaluator
Costs in the case of late payments Missing payments could have severe consequences for you (e.g. forced sale) and make obtaining credit more difficult
The repayment of the loan is free of charge in the secondary offices of the Creditor, as well as at the discretion of the Debtor through the representatives authorized to collect loan payments. The list of which and their fees are published on the website of the Creditor (www.microinvest.md/cum-achiti-creditul/). In case the Debtor use payment methods with fee, the Debtor cover all the costs of repayment of the loan and undertake to make the payments in such a way that the Creditor receives the agreed repayment amount and without any deductions by third parties processing the refund payment.
In accordance with and arising from the provisions of art. 15, para. 7), lit. a) from Law no. 202/2013, any payments related to the granted credit (commissions, taxes, penalties, late interest and any other type of payment), except interest, will be applied and collected within the limit of the ceiling of 0.04% of the total value of the credit per credit day multiplied by the number of days of actual use of the credit (hereinafter 'Ceiling'). Therefore, the Lender will be entitled to apply and collect the costs, excluding interest, exactly in the fixed or percentage amount established in the contract if the said ceiling allows, and if the ceiling is lower than the value of at least one cost, excluding interest, then the Lender will be entitled to reduce the fixed/percentage amount and apply and collect any of the applicable costs only within the limit of the ceiling value. When calculating the ceiling, the costs already applied and collected will be taken into account, with the exception of interest, which reduces its value. (Representative example: if the amount of the penalty is 20 MDL per day, and the ceiling value at that time is 16 MDL, then a maximum of 16 MDL will be collected).

4. Other important legal aspects
Right of withdrawal You have the right to withdraw from the credit agreement within a period of 14 calendar days	Yes
Early repayment You have the right to repay the credit early at any time in full or partially	Yes
The creditor is entitled to compensation in the case of early repayment The Debtor may repay the loan in full or in part in advance, notifying the Creditor in writing 3 days in advance, and paying an early repayment fee of:	% from early repaid amount, if the period of time between the date of early repayment and convened maturity exceeds one year; % from early repaid amount.The early repayment can be made only if the Debtor has no outstanding debts on interest or other amounts to be paid in accordance with the Contract. % from early repaid amount, if the period of time between the date of early repayment and convened maturity does not exceed one year.
Database usage The creditor must inform you immediately and without charge of the result of a consultation of a database, if a credit application is rejected on the basis of such a consultation. This does not apply if the provision of such information is prohibited by law or is contrary to objectives of public policy or public security The parties may agree on additional terms and conditions, which will be included in the credit agreement.	Yes
Right to a draft credit agreement You have the right, upon request, to obtain a copy of the draft credit agreement free of charge. This provision does not apply if the creditor, at the time of the request, is unwilling to proceed to the conclusion of the credit agreement with you	Yes
The period of time during which the creditor is bound by the pre-contractual obligations	This offer is valid for 15 calendar days after it is issued.
In this regard, I subsequently declare that: I was provided with the necessary information, the essential characteristics of the above-mentioned credit product were explained (interest rate, number of commissions, credit costs, early repayment conditions, total amount to be paid), as well as the consequences of non-compliance with contractual clauses; the costs included in the total cost of the loan were explained to me, including the costs for ancillary services related to the credit agreement; I was offered the possibility to negotiate individually the contractual clauses in the credit agreement that I intend to sign, I negotiated individually the granting commission, the monthly commission, the amount of penalties and I mention that its clauses do not disadvantage me, being fair in the report mine with the creditor; I was asked by the creditor about the probable importance of the information provided and whether essential circumstances that I expected to be provided were not omitted in order to make an informed and rational decision about concluding the potential credit agreement. the information provided and the corresponding explanations allowed me to assess, including the personal analysis of other offers of third party creditors, whether the proposed credit agreement is tailored to my needs and financial situation; I know the content of the contract and all its conditions have been explained to me, I have understood and accepted them, and the documents and information underlying the conclusion of the contract are complete and accurate; I know the law, the normative acts that will govern the contract, as well as the lack of consumer quality; I have no ambiguities or misunderstandings regarding the terms of the contract; the credit product corresponds to the purpose described above and will be used according to the destination and the economic activity carried out. The assets procured/resulted/constructed/repaired from received loan sources will be registered/transmitted in the social capital of the company where my business activity is carried out and/or will be used jointly by the members or individually however strictly for running my business activity. (Signature)