OREANDA-NEWS. SCM Group has published a full version of its sustainable development report 2012 prepared in line with international standards GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) and independently assured by Ernst&Young.

For the first time SCM announced its strategic objectives in sustainable development indicating our benchmarks in eight key sustainability areas:

Business ethics

Good working conditions

Health of our employees

Safety of our employees

Local communities development

Environment

Energy efficiency

Better quality of higher and vocational education

“It is important for us that our stakeholders understand well what we are driving to, where we are heading. We wish people to realise the benefits of projects and investments. With this in mind we have set SCM's goals for sustainable development and published them. Now we look at every sustainability project, every initiative and every investment and answer the question “Will this project help us to achieve the set goal?” In 2014, we will change our approaches to reporting too and disclose both WHAT we have done and HOW CLOSE we have got to the declared objectives,” said Natalia Yemchenko, SCM's Director of Public Relations and Communications.

The report is special also because, as we were preparing it, we engaged many employees of our businesses and local communities. They are the main characters and co-authors of case studies of our sustainability projects. They evaluate results of our initiatives by reviewing how their working conditions changed, what career outlooks they have and how comfortable their cities are. Dozens of such small stories make part of the report.

“By filling the report with personal stories, we tried to make it interesting for a wide audience and show various dimensions of our projects. Every social initiative aims at specific people - buying the most advanced personal safety kits for miners of our coal businesses or building children's playgrounds in Avdeyevka and Kirovskoye towns (Donetsk Oblast). The opinion of people is decisive. Every year our plants and companies carry out hundreds of projects raising the living standards in their towns and villages. This is the goal that our shareholder Rinat Akhmetov has set to us,” said Natalia Yemchenko.

Pure numbers

SCM Group sustainable development, 2012:

Around UAH 29 billion paid in taxes

Over UAH 15 billion paid in salaries and remuneration

Around UAH 18 billion invested in modernisation

Over UAH 7 billion invested in programmes focused on staff development, health and safety, environment, energy efficiency, development of local communities and business environment

51 plants and companies covered in the report.