Sustainable development policy

As an industry leader, Sovcomflot adheres to the principles of sustainable development, giving priority to the safety of navigation, environmental protection, and maintaining a high quality service. Recognising its responsibility to the global community, Sovcomflot declares: Safety Comes First.

“In the post-COVID world, shipping and maritime will be at the heart of the economic recovery. ’Sustainable Shipping for a Sustainable Planet’, our theme for 2020 couldn’t be more relevant now. The goal of the IMO is to help trans-form the industry to underpin the achievement of the sustainable development goals.”

Kitack Lim Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO)

Areas of SCF Group’s activities in the field of ESGESG refers to environmental, social and governance factors used for analysis in responsible investing

SCF’s ‘Green Charter’

The Sovcomflot Group’s Green Charter is a declaration of commitments related to sustainable development approved as part of the PAO Sovcomflot Strategy up to 2025.

The document lays down the strategic areas of SCF’s activities aimed at sustainable development and proclaims the Company’s commitment to develop an integrated management system based on compliance with the requirements of international industry regulations and standards.

The document pays special attention to measures to fight climate change by using innovative technologies and raising personnel awareness on environmental protection.

The Company also declares its intention to continue implementing ‘green’ technologies, including energy saving ones, as well transparent energy consumption calculation methods. Reducing carbon footprint from the fleet while maintaining high economic indicators is one of the key directions for development specified in the document.

In the HR management area, the Company confirms its commitment to create favourable working conditions and provide opportunities for enhancing professional skills to existing employees and trainees, ensure gender equality and access to qualified medical aid, and pursue a zero tolerance policy towards corruption in any form.

The tanker Lomonosov Prospect using LNG as the primary fuel during LNG bunkering in Gibraltar.

The Poseidon Principles

Sovcomflot was one of the first in the industry to support the environmental Poseidon Principles adopted by the leading banks lending to the shipping industry.

The Poseidon Principles are an environmental initiative by a number of major financial institutions aimed at the implementation of financing projects in the shipping industry taking into account sustainable development principles. Banks consider the degree of environmental compatibility and energy efficiency of maritime transport when making lending decisions for shipping companies. Assessment criteria correlate with carbon dioxide emission reduction targets set by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). Currently, 24 major international banks provide financing to companies in the shipping industry, taking into account the Poseidon Principles.

In 2020 a credit facility agreement concluded by Sovcomflot with three international banks to refinance LNG tankers Grand Aniva and Grand Elena, which was one of the first in the shipping industry to incorporate the Poseidon Principles, was named the ‘Deal of the Year’ in the ‘Project Financing’ category by the jury at the annual Marine Money Awards.

The Neptune Declaration

Sovcomflot joined the Neptune Declaration, which is designed to ensure that the rights of seafarers amid СOVID-19 are respected and to support global supply chains.

The document is an initiative led by the Global Maritime Forum and brings together more than 450 major companies from the shipping, oil & gas and other industries. The companies that signed the document commit to take action to resolve the crew change crisis as soon as possible, involving their partners and government authorities in the process.

Amid the growing pandemic Sovcomflot Group managed to promptly take measures to protect the health of employees and ensure the uninterrupted operation of the fleet and onshore units. Local restrictions in a number of countries and regions, certainly, made adjustments to the crew change process. The Company has done and continues to do everything possible to ensure that its seafarers return home in a timely fashion. In particular, the rotation scheme has been optimised so that as many crew members as possible could be changed during calls to Russian ports.

Sovcomflot is taking a set of measures to monitor the health of each crew member prior to boarding the vessel, during the voyage and when going ashore. All rotating crews are allowed to go on board only after passing a coronavirus test, completing a two-week observation period and, if necessary, taking a second test.

From 95% to 100% of shore-based employees have transferred to remote work, thanks to the timely integration of digital solutions into all core operational management processes.

«Sovcomflot seafarers must be sure that their employer, together with its partners and clients, is doing everything necessary to ensure that the crews return home on time. During 2020, Sovcomflot took all possible measures to ensure that crew changes were conducted in compliance with all the existing international and Russian regulations, as well as the requirements of relevant authorities, while countering the spread of coronavirus. In 2021 we will continue to work in this direction.»

Sergey Popravko, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of PAO Sovcomflot

Anti-Corruption Charter of Russian Business

PAO Sovcomflot, through its governing bodies and employees, ensures compliance with the requirements of current legislation of the Russian Federation on countering corruption, including measures to prevent and combat corruption offences. The consistent implementation of the provisions of the Anti-Corruption Charter of Russian Business, which was joined by Sovcomflot, is a confirmation to this.

The Anti-Corruption Charter of Russian Business was signed in 2012 by four major business associations: the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, the All-Russian Non-Governmental Organization of Small and Medium-Sized Businesses «OPORA RUSSIA» and the All-Russian Non-Governmental Organization “Business Russia” with the participation of the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation.

The goal of the Charter is to encourage Russian businesses to voluntarily adopt special anti-corruption programmes that provide for internal control procedures, waiver of preferences, procurement through open bidding, financial control, personnel training and supervision, assistance to law enforcement authorities, and other measures.

The PAO Sovcomflot Executive Board made a decision on the Company’s accession to the Anti-Corruption Charter of Russian Business in July 2017. The Company was included in the consolidated register of parties to the Charter by Order No. RP-16 of Alexander Shokhin, President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, dated 14 November 2017.

An anti-corruption policy and the SCF Group feedback form have been in operation in the Company since 2015. A new version of the anticorruption policy was approved by the PAO Sovcomflot Executive Board in August 2019. The document sets forth the rules and standards of doing business and applies to all Sovcomflot Group companies. The Company’s Executive Board, at the same meeting, approved the PAO Sovcomflot Code of Corporate Ethics, which contains the basic ethical principles and priorities of the Company and recommendations on how the Sovcomflot Group employees should behave when making decisions in the course of their professional activities.