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Sustainability
MKB has been for years firmly committed to sustainability and makes every effort to promote the ESG agenda in Russia, in particular by doing business responsibly, by implementing a system to control and manage its own social and environmental impacts and by developing a sustainable financing framework.
One of the masterminds behind that work of the bank is its beneficial owner — Roman I. Avdeev. Thanks to his participation and engagement, projects ultimately promoting social well-being have become an integral part of MKB’s corporate culture. Mr. Avdeev also encouraged MKB’s active development as a universal bank with a transparent corporate governance framework based on best international practices.
MKB’s deliberate and unwavering commitment to making its business more sustainable dates back to 2012 when it got equity investments from two multilateral developmental institutions: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and International Finance Corporation (IFC, World Bank group).
EBRD and IFC prompted the Bank to endorse international standards and best practices of sustainable development. It was with the intent to adopt best national and international practices that the Bank developed, in 2015, its first Social and Environmental Management Policy (the «S&E Policy») based on the IFC’s and EBRD’s experience and applicable Russian S&E laws, and setting out the Bank’s key voluntary principles and commitments as regards promoting global sustainable development.
The year 2019 set a new ESG milestone for the Bank:
A landmark event of 2019 was the creation of a Sustainable Development Workgroup promoting the Bank’s initiatives aimed at a deeper integration of sustainability principles into its overall business. The Workgroup’s creation demonstrates that the ESG agenda is a priority for the Bank and is supported not only by its employees and management, but also by its Supervisory Board and shareholders.
MKB’s corporate governance success was acclaimed by World Finance’s experts, who honoured it with the «Best Corporate Governance in Russia 2019» award. Furthermore, MKB’s achievements were recognised by the international rating agency RAEX Europe which rated it ВВВ[esg] — that’s the first ESG rating in the Russian banking sector.
The year 2020 was also very ESG-intensive for MKB. The Bank created a professional ESG team and the Sustainable Development Division with such duties as formulating and implementing its sustainable development strategy, designing internal processes and procedures for the approved course, assisting customers in their transition to a more sustainable trajectory, supporting social projects and green economy sectors, and many more.
Adopting best practices of the responsible banking community, MKB approved its framework ESG strategy and identified its strategically prioritised sustainable development goals in 2020. Those goals outline the future it seeks to procure by promoting the UN’s global agenda of sustainable development. MKB’s management and shareholders also endorse the chosen course of development, taking part in the making of strategic and managerial decisions.
In 2020, MKB became the first Russian bank to get an interbank loan linked to independent evaluation of its sustainability performance — its ESG rating from RAEX Europe. The Bank also co-arranged the first-in-Russia corporate issues of perpetual «green» bonds and social Eurobonds.
An important ESG move was made by the Supervisory Board in early 2021 by adding sustainable development matters to the Strategy and Capital Markets Committee's competence and converting it into a Strategy and Sustainable Development Committee.
The Bank’s strong positions and progress were acknowledged by RAEX Europe, who listed it among the top 20 ESG-advanced Russian companies, ahead of all banks in that ranking.
Later on, in March, having analysed MKB’s 2020 sustainability achievements, RAEX Europe affirmed the bank’s ESG rating at BBB[esg] with a higher score.
MKB is the first Russian bank to announce the launch of the development and implementation of an IMS and to formulate a public integrated management system policy as regards environmental and social protection, occupational health and safety, energy efficiency and energy saving.