Tatarstan and VTB to cooperate in the ESG sphere

On November 12, at their meeting at the Government House of the republic, Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov and Deputy President – Board Chairman of VTB Bank Denis Bortnikov signed a partnership agreement in the ESG sphere.

The document envisages the interaction of Tatarstan and VTB in various areas, including the implementation of socially oriented and environmentally significant projects, the development of a comfortable urban environment, the organization of the issuance of regional "green" bonds, the development of entrepreneurship - digitalization of access to banking and non-financial services, as well as the development of recommendations to improve the profile of companies in terms of sustainable development.

“VTB is a long-standing strategic partner of Tatarstan. Today the bank is successfully implementing joint projects with a number of regional enterprises. VTB pays special attention to working with small and medium-sized businesses and participates in all state support projects. We are interested in the further development of our cooperation, including the implementation of ESG principles,” Minnikhanov emphasized.

As part of the implementation of the ESG platform, VTB continues to work to support the health sector of Tatarstan, regional environmental and educational projects. For example, next year VTB will finance the purchase of medical equipment for hospitals in the region and support the development of a comfortable urban environment.

“The introduction of ESG standards in the business agenda organically coincides with the implementation of national projects in our country, covering all spheres of the economy, including small and medium-sized businesses. The principles of sustainable development are being implemented in practice in Russian regions as well. The leadership of Tatarstan is actively implementing programmes to improve the quality of life of the population, develop local businesses and projects that in many aspects are already consistent with the ESG approach. VTB is consistently integrating sustainable development principles into its business processes. We have launched an open ESG platform and are already introducing appropriate products and services for our clients. Partnership with Tatarstan is a logical step in scaling ESG principles to the regions of the country,” Bortnikov said.

Also, together with the Government of Tatarstan, VTB is implementing a competition for startups created in accordance with the principles of sustainable development. It should be noted that Tatarstan was the first region to join the bank's federal ESG platform.