On 29 May Mrs Tatiana Vysokova, member of the Board of Directors of Center-invest Bank, received a letter of gratitude from the Rostov-on-Don city administration for her contribution to the city’s socioeconomic development and her philanthropic work. The letter was presented by the head of the administration, Sergei Gorban.

“Business is one of the most creative, vibrant and rapidly changing areas of life,” Mr Gorban said. “Together with entrepreneurs we will create a new Rostov; we will improve and develop all aspects of the city.”

Mrs Vysokova was among the originators of the Rostov region’s financial market and securities market. She co-authored the region’s first privatisation plans and programmes, and she is one of the founders of Center-invest Bank. Many of the bank’s social, educational and philanthropic projects were initiated and set up by Mrs Vysokova. These include: support for students, lecturers and young academics at southern Russia’s universities; free training in Internet skills for schoolchildren; free entry for the region’s schoolchildren to exhibitions at the Rostov Region’s Local Studies Museum and Museum of Fine Arts; support for veterans; the establishment of the Endowment Fund for Education and Science in the Southern Federal District; and the opening of a Financial Literacy Centre for the general public.

In Russia, this way of doing business is called ‘socially responsible’, while in international practice the term ’sustainable’ is used. A sustainable business seeks to introduce new knowledge, technology and methods in the interests of future generations.

Photo supplied by the Press Service of the Rostov-on-Don city administration