Moscow, May 20, 2021 — Gazprombank acted for the third time as a partner of the National Forum on Sustainable Development, organized by the Vedomosti business publication. The Forum has emerged as one of the most noteworthy Russian venues for the discussion and exchange of professional opinions among representatives of responsible national businesses, Russian and international experts on the relevant aspects of the transformation of corporate strategic approaches and practical steps furthering sustainability and the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Denis Shulakov, Gazprombank’s First Vice President, took part in the Plenary Discussion “The 2030 Agenda in Russia. Have We Passed the Turning Point?,” in which he spoke about the situation with green fundraising in the world and in Russia — particularly in the form of sustainable-development bonds — and the need for the regulation of investments in climate transition projects.
“From the standpoint of global green financing, it’s not loans but green bonds that are the main instrument, and a situation has now arisen in which demand exceeds supply: investors are ready to invest $8-9 trln more in the respective assets, but the right instruments just aren’t there. The problem is that only 4% of all Russian companies can currently place green bonds, because they represent sectors with a low carbon footprint. The bonds of other companies — even if they’re aimed at green projects — wouldn’t be considered “green” in terms of international requirements, insofar as they remain carbon-intensive in terms of their core activities. In this situation, there’s still an opportunity to raise money on the international markets by issuing sustainability-linked bonds — bonds for corporate-wide purposes with a coupon rate tied to established sustainable-development indicators, as well as transition bonds — the securities of large manufacturing corporations aimed specifically at projects supporting the carbon transformation of business. For Russian companies to be able to use these instruments, however, these standards and the mechanisms of their use must be introduced at the legislative level,” said Denis Shulakov.
The discussion also featured the participation of Kirill Komarov, First Deputy CEO – Director for Corporate Development and International Business at Rosatom State Corporation; Andrey Bugrov, Senior Vice President for Sustainable Development and a Board Member at Norilsk Nickel; Alexander Grishkov, Vice President for Sustainable Development at PepsiCo in Eastern Europe; and Svetlana Yachevskaya, Deputy Chairperson — Member of the Management Board at VEB.RF. The event was moderated by Ivan Yeremin, Chairman of the Board of Directors and shareholder of Vedomosti.