Acron Group was recognised by AK&M Rating Agency as one of the most socially effective large Russian businesses in 2020 and ranked first among chemical companies in the category for Significant Contribution to the Development of State and Society.
AK&M’s rating looks at the most socially involved businesses. Analysts at the Agency identified the companies that pay taxes, provide employment and support to local residents in their footprint regions, and implement charitable programmes. Companies are ranked based on the percentage of revenue – rather than total amounts – that they invest in social initiatives.
According to AK&M, Acron Group is the top contributor to the development of state and society among chemical companies. The Group allocates almost 20% of its income to taxes, payroll, and charity.
Chairman of Acron’s Board of Directors Alexander Popov called social responsibility an essential element of the Group’s activities. ‘We support socially significant programmes in our footprint regions, take care of our employees, and implement essential environmental initiatives. In 2020, Acron Group invested over RUB 1.3 billion in social and charitable programmes and social and economic development in its footprint regions as part of its ESG strategy’.
The AK&M Rating Agency has published its Social Effectiveness Rating since 2018. The rating looks at two groups of parameters:
- Social effects of the companies’ activities (tax payments, investments in charity and environmental protection, and employee benefits (taking into account the labour force participation rate))
- Companies’ environmental impact (air and water pollution and solid waste generation, adjusted for the level of toxicity)
Based on the above parameters, AK&M calculates the ratio of companies’ social performance and their environmental impact.
The rating is available at https://www.akm.ru/upload/akmrating/AK&M_Social_Performance_Rating_2021.pdf.