OREANDA-NEWS. December 25, 2009. IBA was selected a winner of the Belarusian contest The Brand of the Year in the category Socially Responsible Brand. IBA was named The Best Employer and awarded with the gold medal and honorary diploma. The award ceremony was held in Minsk, Belarus, reported the press-centre of IBA.

Marketing executives and top managers of the winning companies attended the event. Liudmila Istomina, Program Associate of UNDP in Belarus, handed the awards to the winners. Ryhor Zlobin, IBA Technical Director, and Jury Igovin, IBA Administrative Director, represented IBA at the event.

The category Socially Responsible Brand was instituted within the national contest The Brand of the Year in 2005 by the Initiative For Social Responsibility of Business with support from UNDP in Belarus within the UN Initiative Global Compact.

The organizers see the corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a voluntary contribution of business to economic, social, and environmental development of society.

Aiming at popularizing the CSR in Belarus, and sharing experience of the companies that implement CSR values, the Organizing Committee and the Supervisory Board of the contest created a special event for the category Socially Responsible Brand to be held before the Holiday Season. A part of the contest participation fee was donated by the organizers to a charity New Year performance for orphans that will be held on December 30 in Minsk, Belarus.

The contest jury studied and evaluated social reports of the nominees in seven categories, namely proactive social behavior, best employer, ethical market conduct, socially responsible investing, environmental protection, social partnership, and partnership of private and public sectors. The evaluation was based upon the data provided by the companies, including their CSR and sustainable development reports, charity and environmental protection programs, ethical market conduct, HR management and partnering with public sector projects.

Along with IBA, the following Belarusian companies were recognized as socially responsible by The Brand Of The Year 2009:
Reliable Software, Inc. (Web portal TUT.BY)
Belarusian Metallurgical Plant
Minsk Transit Bank
Brewing Company “Siabar” (ТМ Heineken)
British American Tobacco Trading Company
Savushkin Product
Babushkina Krynka
TRIPLE
BELTROUBOPROVODSTROY
Coca-Cola Beverages Belarus
Milavitsa
Caffeine (TM Matador)
Belagroprombank
Minsk Capital Association of Entrepreneurs and Employers
BELSPLAT

From the very moment of its foundation, employee support and cooperation with universities, environmental protection and community relations have been of a top priority for IBA. In October 2008, IBA adopted a consistent CSR program that comprises four sections, namely employee support, public education, community relations, and green IT.