April 24, 2008 — On April 24 PricewaterhouseCoopers donated a custom-made minibus to the Kazan Rehabilitation Centre for Children and Teenagers with Special Needs. The bus, which cost 1,674,000 roubles, is equipped with an electric sliding platform to lift a wheelchair through the rear doors, thirteen chairs with armrests and safety belts, and fasteners for three wheelchairs. The centre provides boarding school facilities to 100 children and also has 30 day students, of whom 20% are in wheelchairs.The bus will help children in wheelchairs to get around the city, fully participate in the centre’s programmes, attend educational events and get involved in Kazan’s social life.
Following the opening of our PwC office in Kazan in December 2007, the firm’s Corporate Responsibility programme now stretches to cover the Republic of Tatarstan. Together with financing the charity project, PricewaterhouseCoopers plans to become a strategic advisor to the Kazan Rehabilitation Centre for Children and Teenagers with Special Needs and hold charity events there with the participation of volunteer employees from the Kazan office.

Stanley Root, Head of the Kazan Office, Nozima Rakhmanova, PwC Charity Programs Manager, Anna Nazyrova, Kazan Office Manager and employees of the Kazan office together with top officials of the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security all attended the ceremony to launch the minibus and mark the start of cooperation between PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Kazan Rehabilitation Centre.

“This is a wonderful centre, a centre of good intentions and hard work. I am pleased to present you with this bus. It will be a symbol of friendship between our organisations,” said in his welcome Stanley Root.

To thank PwC the centre’s students put on an English performance of The Bremen Town Musicians.

Notes to Editor

1. For further details, please contact Anna Aristova, PR Assistant Manager, or Vera Totskaya, PR Senior Manager.

PricewaterhouseCoopers has a corporate social responsibility programme in Russia to address various issues related to education, culture, children and the environment. For many years, the firm has been sponsoring orphanages, secondment programmes for university post-graduates and the restoration of historical and cultural heritage sites. PricewaterhouseCoopers has widely participated in international charity programmes aimed at raising funds for orphans and children from underprivileged families. A new initiative was launched recently to encourage sport in Russia; the pilot project was sponsorship of the legendary CSKA hockey club.

In 2005, PricewaterhouseCoopers started the Charity Instead of Gifts programme. For two years in a row, the firm has brought this idea to life, reallocating its funds for New Year’s business gifts to charities. In 2007, over 90 companies joined this effort, and the number of contributors continues to grow. Apart from addressing specific social issues, the project helps develop a charity-minded culture in Russia.