Responsible business conduct

Responsible Business Conduct Guidelines

The OECD Responsible Business Conduct Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises were adopted in 1976. Today, companies establish their bylaws based on responsible business conduct guidelines of five international organizations: the International Labour Organization, the International Organization for Standardization, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the United Nations and the OECD, including its corporate governance, anti-corruption standards etc.

International experience shows that businesses today can not only aim at generating profit by any means necessary. Business activities shall be harmonized with the society and the environment.

As a development institution, VEB.RF works to implement responsible business conduct standards in Russia. Our main objective is to mitigate environmental and social risks, to improve stability of business process, to make companies more competitive. VEB.RF together with experts from the Russia-OECD Center RANEPA promotes the guidelines in Russia and collaborates with international organizations (primarily with the OECD) to improve international responsible business conduct guidelines for companies, including financial institutions.

In 2020, VEB.RF Institute jointly with the Russia-OECD Center RANEPA issued the Responsible Financing Guidelines. The guidelines will be submitted for approval to the heads of the BRICS development institutions. The guidelines will lay the foundation for VEB.RF to apply responsible business conduct standards to its activities, to promote responsible business conduct to customers, and to collaborate with BRICS.

Andrei Klepach

Chief Economist

“By promoting green investment in Russia, we understand that VEB.RF’s projects shall have not only a positive impact on the environment but also shall tackle social risks and enhance corporate governance. This objective can be achieved by applying responsible business conduct guidelines to VEB.RF which will also attract international investors to our projects and make VEB.RF an international sustainable finance player along with other countries.”

Elena Gushchina

Senior Vice-President

“The international agenda is one of VEB.RF’s priorities as a development institution. Today, the Russian Government has stepped up its collaboration with the OECD. This effort is headlined by VEB.RF. We have a number of projects with the OECD in priority areas, including responsible business conduct. It is important for us not only to implement best practices in VEB.RF but also to take initiative in the OECD’s working groups to shape futures standards, including the one on responsible financing.”

Responsible Financing Guidelines

In 2020, VEB.RF’s presidency of the BRICS Inter-Bank Cooperation Mechanism together with VEB.RF Institute and the Russia-OECD Center RANEPA issued Responsible Financing Guidelines.

The guidelines are compliant with the best international practices and standards of the OECD, the IFC, the World Bank, and national priorities of the BRICS member countries. The guidelines feature the principles approved by the BRICS institutions to promote the green economy and environmental protection, to protect human and labour rights, to develop corporate governance, including tackling corruption and enhancing tax planning.

The guidelines will pave the way for the Recommendations for Implementation of Guidelines for Development Institutions which will be published before the end of 2020. The recommendations are aimed at elaborating on implementation procedures, incorporation of the principles to banking decision-making and lending processes, and projects monitoring.