On 10 February Center-invest Bank held a press conference about its 2021 results and its development plans implementing an ESG banking model.

 Chairman of the Board of Directors of Center-invest Bank, Dr Vasily Vysokov, gave the opening address at the press conference.

 “Today, the ESG concept is to the fore. In the modern transformations economy, many companies are searching for a new business model. Center-invest Bank is not among them, as year after year we are successfully implementing a sustainable development concept,” said Dr Vysokov.  

 The other speakers were Chairman of the Executive Board, Lidia Simonova, Chief Financial Officer, Sergei Smirnov, and Director of Innovations, Yuri Bogdanov.

 “An ESG bank is successful first and foremost thanks to the optimal balance between profitability, organic growth and the risks assumed,” said Lidia Simonova. “Center-invest Bank’s key financial indicators demonstrate once again the effectiveness of our business model.”

 By implementing an ESG business model, in 2021 Center-invest Bank achieved: 

• Balanced growth for financial and non-financial indicators;
• A high level of competitiveness and strong ratings from international and national ratings agencies - Moody’s Ba3 (outlook stable), ACRА A(RU) (outlook stable);  
• Deserved recognition - 5th place among Russian banks in the ranking “ESG Transparency of Russian Companies” and ranked in the Top 3 Largest Regional Banks by Assets and the Top 15 Most Profitable Banks in Russia.

In 2021 Center-invest Bank became the first bank in the world to present an ESG balance sheet using a taxonomy based on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Russia’s National Projects. Total investment in the SDGs was RUB299.3bn and in the National Projects it was RUB261.7bn.    

The Bank’s ESG loans	Number of projects	Finance (since date of programme launch, RUBbn)	Growth in 2021
Start-up loans (2011)	854	1.1	+11%
Energy efficiency (2005)	22 754	20.6	+14%
-      including loans for   homeowners’ associations	211	0.4	+42%
Business loans for women (2012)	1 176	2.6	+118%
Social responsibility (2017)	121	0.3	+96%
Business transformation (2020)	1 235	2.9	+1700%

 

Center-invest Bank successfully implements special loan programmes for SMEs, investing in energy efficiency projects, youth entrepreneurship, women in business and social responsibility. As at 01.01.22, the bank had provided a total of RUB27.5bn in ESG loans.  

The Bank’s ESG loans Number of projects Finance (since date of programme launch, RUBbn) Growth in 2021 Start-up loans (2011) 854 1.1 +11% Energy efficiency (2005) 22 754 20.6 +14% -      including loans for   homeowners’ associations 211 0.4 +42% Business loans for women (2012) 1 176 2.6 +118% Social responsibility (2017) 121 0.3 +96% Business transformation (2020) 1 235 2.9 +1700%

In 2021 Center-invest Bank’s Accelerator trained over 600 entrepreneurs. Its Financial Literacy Centres provided over one million people with advice, and held more than 4000 events, educational talks and seminars. The bank’s specialists were involved in 242 seminars and five hackathons on the digitalisation of ESG banking.  

 The bank participated in the implementation of innovative federal projects. It was the first in Russia to launch Apple Pay for Mir cards and digital certificates for people requiring mobility aids.

 In 2021 the bank continued to digitalise its products and services. The number of customers connected to remote services increased by 24%, to 217,700. Ninety-six percent of all retail loan applications were processed online, and the percentage of SME loan applications that were made online increased to 26%.

Working with the Moscow Exchange’s Finuslugi marketplace, in 2021 the bank processed 918 loan applications for a total of RUB340.8m and opened 214 remote deposit accounts, for a total of RUB39.4m.    

 Center-invest Bank’s new strategy “ESG Digitalisation 2.0” focuses on the provision of financial and non-financial services for the population, the transformation of customers’ businesses, digitalisation and strengthened social responsibility in the interests of current and future generations.

 In 2022 Center-invest Bank is introducing rating of business customers according to ESG criteria. These ratings will be fundamental when making decisions about a customer's creditworthiness, together with traditional financial analysis.

Center-invest Bank’s preliminary results for 2021 show that we are continuing to implement an ESG transformations strategy and successfully helping economic recovery in southern Russia.