In January 2015, Vnesheconombank organised the first public hearing to discuss the concept of the Vnesheconombank Group Sustainable Development Report 2014, involving a wide range of the Group's stakeholders, including representatives of government authorities, Russian and international financial organisations, professional associations, environmental organisations, rating agencies, employees of Vnesheconombank and the Group's entities.
Participants in the hearing were presented with a report about Vnesheconombank’s sustainability initiatives on embedding responsible financing principles and mechanisms for assessment of the energy efficiency of investment projects into the Bank’s investment lending operations. Participants were also provided with information about milestones on the path towards Vnesheconombank Group’s non-financial reporting system and the plans for its further development, including by more actively involving stakeholders in non-financial reporting.
During the hearing, participants discussed the Report’s concept and brought forward proposals on determining its contents and selecting priority topics. Participants were also asked to fill in a questionnaire to assess materiality of GRI aspects that were to be disclosed in the Report. The results of the stakeholder survey and a further analysis of key business lines of Vnesheconombank and the Group’s entities served as the basis for the ranking map of GRI Material Aspects. The procedure for determining and ranking of aspects that are material for Vnesheconombank Group was certified by an independent auditor (see Appendix 11).