A discussion on the theme “Corporate social responsibility: goals, tasks, problems and legislative support” was hosted on 15 March 2007 by the Federation Council’s Committee for Economic Policy, Enterprise and Property (CEPEP), PricewaterhouseCoopers and the financial corporation Uralsib. Other participants included deputies of the Russian State Duma, members of the Public Chamber, scholars, politicians, and representatives of the business community.
The government’s standpoint on corporate social responsibility was presented by CEPEP Deputy Chairman Andrei Khazin, Federation Council Deputy Chairman Alexander Torshin, and Advisor to the President of Russia Sergei Samoilov.
Brook Horowitz, Executive Director of the Russian Partnership for Responsible Business Practices, spoke on what governments around the world have done to stimulate social responsibility among businesses.
Alexander Chmel, partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, gave a presentation at the parliamentary hearing on the current state of corporate social responsibility, its problems and prospects. He outlined that the social report is an effective instrument for informing shareholders, employees, partners, and society at large of how well the company is achieving the goals set out in its mission statement or strategic development plan: economic stability, social welfare and environmental sustainability.
Russia still lags behind other countries in terms of the number of companies that produce corporate social and environmental reports — but this number is doubling in size every year. Among such companies is the financial corporation Uralsib, the first Russian company to produce an audited CSR report in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative’s G3 guidelines. PricewaterhouseCoopers audited Uralsib's report and confirmed the mark of B+ to fully confirm its accordance with GRI G3.
Teodorina Lessidrenska, director of the Global Reporting Initiative, spoke on some aspects of international practice of GRI and offered recommendations to participants in the Federation Council hearings.
In his closing address, Chairman Andrei Khazin expressed his gratitude to those who presented at the parliamentary hearings.
“Considering the importance of stable market development to most companies and also the social orientation of Russian business, it is essential to focus serious attention on implementing the practices of corporate social responsibility in Russia,” he said. “Analysis of the socio-economic situation in Russia allows us to speak of the importance of coordinating the interaction between government bodies and representatives of business with the goal of building a firm foundation for the Russian economy and of bringing stability to social processes. Corporate social reporting as an instrument of social responsibility on the part of companies can serve as an example for federal and local government bodies of how to carry out their mandate and tasks.”
