Vasily Vysokov, head of the Rostov-based bank Center-invest, was the runner-up in the international sustainable banking contest, sponsored by the Financial Times and International Finance Corporation.
London, June 7, 2007: The Financial Times and IFC announced the winners of the 2007 FT Sustainable Banking Awards, the leading global awards program designed to recognize banks that have shown leadership and innovation in integrating social, environmental and corporate governance objectives into their operations. The judging panel, which included 250 leading figures involved in sustainable finance and development, initially narrowed down the entries to a shortlist of five banks for each of the categories of awards before selecting the overall winners.
For the first time ever, a Russian banker was selected for the competition’s shortlist. Vasily Vysokov received more votes than noteworthy finalists such as the heads of Barclays (UK), Banco do Brasil (Brasil), and Citi India (India), ultimately taking the runner-up position after the head of Compartamos Banamex (Citigroup, Mexico).
The Financial Times Sustainable Bankers of the Year Award is bestowed upon bankers who proactively integrate the principles of sustainable development into banking operations. The concept of sustainable development in banking presumes not only social responsibility on the part of a financial institution, but its dedication to financial projects with a positive environmental and social impact.
“The number of applications and the geographical scope of these awards just goes to show that every year, banking issues focusing on sustainable development are garnering more and more attention,” notes Mr. Lionel Barber, the Editor-in-Chief of the Financial Times. “We hope that our competition will help portray the importance of these ideas throughout the financial community.”A total of 32 bankers from countries around the world competed in the FT Sustainable Banking Awards. Vasily Vysokov is one of five finalists, thanks to Center Invest’s new banking product aimed at financing energy efficiency projects. This makes Center Invest the first Russian financial institution to offer a product of this kind. During the first year, the bank financed 12 energy efficiency projects for a total of $5 mln, and 27 new products valued at a total of $30 mln are currently in the works. Furthermore, the bank's services in sustainable development are not limited to financing energy conservation projects.
Center Invest was founded in 1992 by the first privatized enterprises in the south of Russia in order to support their sustainable development. In the years that followed, the bank lent its assistance to the general population as well as to companies in the south of Russia in maintaining sustainability during the reform process. It also contributed to the birth of the securities market, the investment project market, the debt market, and the introduction of best international practices in accounting standards and corporate conduct.
Presently, Center Invest is working on social projects involving online education for schoolchildren learning about the history and culture of the south of Russia. A total of 150 students have received stipends from the bank, and over 2,000 veterans of war are taking part in the bank’s special charity programs.
In May this year, Center Invest became the founder of the targeted capital fund Education and Science in the Southern Federal District. This fund is the first of its kind in the South of Russia and the revenue it generates will be used to support students, scientists and educators in the region’s institutions of higher education.
In collaboration with the IFC, Center Invest became the first Russian bank to introduce a code of corporate conduct (in 2004) and is an active proponent of the principles of corporate conduct among its clients. The high quality and successful realization of best corporate conduct practices at Center Invest is reconfirmed by the fact that the bank's shareholders now include the EBRD and the DEG. Furthermore, the ex-president of Bundesbank, Mr. Ernst Weltek, has been elected to Center Invest’s board of directors as an independent director.
In 1997, Center Invest designed and implemented its first program for supporting SMEs in the region, which helped legalize small businesses. At present, over 20,000 small businesses and entrepreneurs are Center Invest clients, and the bank has placed 8th in all of Russia in terms of the number of loans granted to SMEs.
Center Invest is an example for the rest of the Russian financial community and has demonstrated that sustainable development in the banking sector is not limited to the realm of social responsibility - it can also be a lucrative endeavor.
Contacts
Tel.: +44(0)20 78734463
IFC Москва
Maria OvchinnikovaTel.:+7 (985) 761-8991
Center Invest Bank, Rostov-on-the-Don
Dmitri Gorchakov
Tel.: + 7(863) 267 9988
More Information
Center Invest Bank
Center Invest Bank’s head office is located in Rostov-on-the-Don andowns a branch network in the Rostov and Volgograd regions, as well asin Krasnodar Krai and Stavropol Krai. On 01.01.2007, RBC rated CenterInvest the second largest bank in the Southern Federal District (afterSberbank) in terms of the size of assets, equity capital, creditportfolio and the amount of private deposits. Center Invest's branchnetwork boasts over 100 locations, making it the most expansive in theSouthern Federal District. As of 01.06.07 the bank’s assets amounted toRUR 31.4 bln, with equity capital at RUR 3.8 bln and a credit portfoliototaling RUR 26.2 bln.
Center Invest’s key institutional shareholders include theEBRD (27.45%), DEG (22.45%), the US-based Firebird Fund (9.9%),Renaissance Capital (8.2%) and Raiffeisenlandesbank (3.6%).Furthermore, Center Invest collaborates actively in financing mortgageloans, SMEs, and trade financing with international financialorganizations and banks, including: the EBRD, the IFC, DEG, KfW, OPIC,Raiffeisenlandesbank Oo, RZB, Commerzbank AG, VTB Group, LandesbankBerlin, and National City Bank (USA).
Center Invest is the first southern Russian bank to receive aninternational credit rating from Moody's Investor's Service onlong-term foreign currency deposits of B1. On a national scale, Moody'shas given the bank a long-term credit rating of A1.ru.
Center Invest has successfully undergone IAS audits conductedby PricewaterhouseCoopers for ten years in a row. The bank’sindependent director is Ernst Weldeke, the former chairman of DeutscheBundesbank. He has guaranteed clients, staff and shareholderstransparency and is dedicated to his independent status.
Center Invest has a working corporate code of conduct developed with assistance from the IFC, the EBRD and the SECO.
www.centrinvest.ru
About Mr. Vasily Vysokov
The bank’s achievements in sustainable development are based on ascientific foundation built by the chairman of the bank’s board ofdirectors, Mr. Vysokov, a professor and Doctor of Economic Sciences.Professor Vysokov is the author of more than 200 books and articles ontransitional economics. His doctorate dissertation (1995) examines theprinciples of sustainable development in transitional economics:
- the success of reforms lies not within the radical nature of thesteps taken, but in the way the measures that are taken areinterrelated;
- reforms are meant to restore social sustainability at every step in the reform process;
- reforms are strong when they are supported by the masses;
- reforms are not merely slogans, and they function based on the practice of the law;
- reforms are achieved by those who take one deliberate step at a time;
In his new book “Investor Interest in the South of Russia” (inRussian: http://www.centrinvest.ru/pdf/invest.pdf), Professor Vysokovprovides an extensive analysis of the economy of the south of Russiawith a breakdown of markets by manufacturers, consumers,infrastructures, finances and investment and offers a strategy for thesustainable development of the south of Russia.About the IFC
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is an investmentdivision of the World Bank Group that encourages the formation of openand competitive markets in developing countries and companies witheconomies in transition. The IFC supports sustainable privately-ownedcompanies and other partners and provides assistance in creating jobsand providing services, which opens opportunities for improvingpeople’s lives and lowering poverty. As of the end of the 2006 fiscalyear (30 June 2006), the IFC had invested over $56 billion of its ownfunds and attracted another $25 billion in syndicated loans forfinancing 3,531 privately-owned companies in 140 countries. Togetherwith the its partners and donors, the IFC has also provided over $1billion for support for consulting programs aimed at developing smallbusinesses, getting the private sector involved in infrastructuredevelopment projects, improving the business environment, expandingaccess to financing and increasing ecological and socialsustainability. Encouraging the development of energy efficienttechnologies is one of the IFC’s most popular endeavors. On a globalscale, the IFC has already invested over $400 million in energyefficiency projects. In 2005, the IFC launched a targeted program inRussia to stimulate investment in energy conservation. For moreinformation, visit http://www.ifc.org/ifcext/rsefp.nsf/Content/Home.