On 6 November 2020, Center-invest Bank participated in a webinar "Green Finance: Global Trends, International Standards and Prospects for Russia". This event was held by the British Embassy in Russia as part of preparations for the 26th UN Climate Change Conference. Center-invest Bank presented its ESG achievements, its experience in Corporate Social Responsibility, and its contribution to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Center-invest Bank’s Chief Financial Officer, Sergei Smirnov (PhD Economics), was invited to speak at the webinar as a Russian expert in green finance. Addressing the audience of British bankers, senior executives, and other financial market participants, Dr Smirnov presented the bank’s ESG projects, which reflect our commitment to sustainable development in the interests of current and future generations: the first issue of green bonds in Russia (with a par value of RUB250m), energy efficiency finance (21,700 projects financed to date, with loans totalling RUB18.3bn), a "green" deposit account (all of the funds go towards achieving specific Sustainable Development Goals), and ESG investments (at 1 October 2020, the bank had invested RUB168.5m in the UN Sustainable Development Goals and RUB145.9bn in Russia’s National Projects).
"Center-invest Bank is a trendsetter in green finance in Russia," said Dr Smirnov. "We implement new creative ideas to address environmental and social issues and we actively seek to increase the amount invested in the UN Sustainable Development Goals."
During the webinar, Dr Smirnov spoke about the bank’s contribution to the development of the financial sector. He also spoke about our stakeholder engagement mechanisms. He presented the ESG impact of the bank’s activities, which he illustrated with social and environmental case studies.