The Company’s contribution to the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Protecting the health of its employees is one of the top priorities of the Company’s social policy. Health resort treatment, recreation and rest are available at corporate health resorts, holiday hotels, recreational centres and camps. The Company consistently promotes healthy lifestyle and creates opportunities for sports activities.

Russian Railways took extensive measures to protect the health of its employees and customers during the pandemic. Several of the Group’s healthcare facilities were converted for treatment of COVID-19 patients.

The Company’s professional training framework relies on 15 education centres. Our Corporate University trains specialists with higher education and secondary vocational education in cooperation with industry-based higher education institutions. The Company also provides specialised educational programmes for school and university students.

Russian Railways has zero tolerance for any types of discrimination, including gender discrimination, in recruitment, staff development and promotions. The Company consistently expands the list of railway jobs available to women. In 2021, the first women started work as assistants to engine drivers.

Russian Railways is implementing a Clear Water investment project to upgrade water supply systems and bring the quality of water supplied to consumers in line with standards set by Russian sanitation and environmental laws.

Russian Railways’ Collective Bargaining Agreement for 2020–2022 covers the majority of the Company’s employees. We run a number of corporate programmes supporting certain categories of personnel, including young, retired and soon-to-be-retired employees.

Efficient measures taken by the Company during the COVID-19 pandemic helped to prevent the loss of jobs and a shift to shorter working hours.

Russian Railways’ investment programme is focused on developing and upgrading the railway infrastructure and promoting high-speed and ultra high-speed railway transportation.

The Company is implementing projects to create a digital twin of the Russian railway network, develop transportation management systems based on artificial intelligence, introduce innovative rolling stock, etc., in line with its Digital Transformation Strategy and the Group’s Comprehensive Innovative Development Programme. The Group promotes partnerships with scientific institutions, manufacturing enterprises, and small and medium-size businesses based on the principle of “open innovation”.

The Company and its subsidiaries are the main providers of suburban passenger transportation in Russia. They are integrating suburban transport into urban transport systems and actively developing multi-modal routes and transport interchange hubs to enhance the mobility of urban population.

Company divisions use waste processing, recovery and recycling technologies to mitigate the negative environmental impact of railway industry-specific waste. The Company recognises its environmental and social responsibility and fulfils a self-assumed obligation to ensure selective collection of certain types of solid municipal waste (paper, glass, plastic, metal, etc.) in its office buildings and at railway stations.

GHG emissions reduction is an integral element of Russian Railways’ corporate strategy. Shifting to innovative types of rolling stock is essential in this context. The Company also pays great attention to climate change risks.

Russian Railways is a major natural resource user operating in 77 regions of Russia. The Company makes consistent efforts to minimise its environmental footprint. In November 2020, Russian Railways approved an action plan to protect Lake Baikal and assumed additional responsibility for the protection of the unique environment in the Central Zone of Lake Baikal Protected Areas.

Zero tolerance of corruption in any form or manifestation thereof and taking all necessary actions to ensure compliance with international and Russian anti-corruption laws are indispensable for the Company’s sustainable development. Based on the results of the Anti-Corruption Rating of Russian Business 2020, the Company’s operations were found to be fully compliant with the ISO 37001:2016 international anti-corruption standard and the provisions of the Russian Anti-Corruption Charter for Business. Russian Railways was assigned the top A1 rating as a company with the highest level of anti-corruption efforts and a minimum level of corruption risks associated with a minimum threat to investors, creditors, business partners, and other stakeholders.

In 2020, Russian Railways signed the Declaration on Sustainable Mobility of the International Union of Railways (UIC). The Company makes an active contribution to the development of sustainable “green” transport and the implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate change mitigation. Russian Railways is both the leader and the pioneer of Russia’s sustainable finance market.