Charity and Sponsorship

Large-scale charitable and sponsorship projects play a significant role in our activities and bring in huge improvements in community life. As one of the oldest banks in the country, Vnesheconombank pays particular attention to continuity when selecting projects. Most significant projects of the Bank, specifically cultural projects, have been in place for a number of years and promote a positive image of Russia as a country with a rich national culture.

Vnesheconombank Group’s charitable and sponsorship activities cover a full range of areas, from support to large international forums to help to specific people who have found themselves in a difficult life situation. The amount of charitable and sponsorship support provided by the Group is growing from year to year, while the number of beneficiaries is expanding from year to year.

Vnesheconombank’s charitable and sponsorship activities are run in line with the Memorandum on Financial Policies. The Programme for Charitable and Sponsorship Support is prepared in the fourth quarter of each year, mostly based on applications by relevant ministries and departments, and is subject to approval by the Supervisory Board of Vnesheconombank.

Priority areas of Vnesheconombank Group's charitable activities include support to science, education, culture and the arts, to healthcare institutions and to socially vulnerable groups, i. e. World War II veterans, disabled persons and children without parental care. We also pay particular attention to support to the Russian Orthodox Church, including construction and restoration of Orthodox churches and monasteries of cultural and historical significance. The Bank’s priorities also include support to Russian elite sports and ecological / environmental projects.

In 2014, Vnesheconombank supported the implementation of more than 80 charitable projects, mainly long-term.

Among organisations of the Group, our subsidiary commercial banks, BelVEB, Prominvestbank and Globexbank, spent the largest amount for implementation of charitable projects. Charitable projects were also implemented by SME Bank, Sviaz-Bank, EXIAR and VEB-Leasing.

Funds Allocated by Vnesheconombank Group for Charity (RUB mn)

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Breakdown of Charitable Activities by Vnesheconombank Group in 2014

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Healthcare, social support and aid to children 24 projects	Support to specialised healthcare institutions: Blokhin Cancer Research Centre, Moscow Regional Psychoneurological Hospital for the Children with Central Nervous System Affliction and Mental Disturbance, Saint Vladimir Children’s Municipal Clinical Hospital, the First Hospice for Children with Oncological Diseases, etc. Support to medical higher education institutions: Urology Department of the Therapeutic Department of Moscow State University of Medicine and Dentistry named after A. I. Evdokimov Support to socially vulnerable groups: orphanages, boarding schools, specialised institutions for disabled people, public organisations, councils of veterans, etc. Response to the flood in the Far East: financing and procuring medical equipment for the Lenin Central District Hospital of the Jewish Autonomous Region
Science, education, art and culture 20 projects	Involvement in Boards of Trustees of Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO University), the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, the Polytechnic Museum and the Bolshoi Theatre Support to relevant higher education institutions and young researchers: the Public-Private Partnership Department of Financial University of the Government of the Russian Federation; Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO, the Agency for Strategic Initiatives, etc. Support to leading Russian cultural and arts institutions: Moscow’s Pyotr Fomenko Studio Theatre, Academy of Young Opera Singers of Saint Petersburg’s Mariinsky Theatre, the Moscow Kremlin’s museums, etc. Personal scholarships paid by Vnesheconombank to students of Moscow State University, MGIMO University, Financial University and Higher School of Economics
Support to the Russian Orthodox Church 30 projects	Support to projects aimed at preservation of historical and cultural heritage, construction of Orthodox churches and revival of spiritual values: renovation of the Pilgrimage Centre of the Holy Trinity — St. Sergius Lavra, improvements to the Centre for Spiritual Development of Children and Youth of St. Daniel Monastery of Moscow, and construction of the Saint George Orthodox Monastery in Götschendorf (Germany), an Orthodox church in Strasburg (France), etc.
Elite sports 6 projects	Support to sports federations and national volleyball, bicycle, rugby, football and tennis teams Support to construction of advanced sports facilities: the National Tennis Centre, Sports and Healthcare Volleyball Complex
Environment and biodiversity 4 projects	Support to national parks and reserves: the Eurasian Centre for the Saving of Far Eastern Leopards; ‘Belovezhskaya Pushcha’ and ‘Pripyatsky’ national parks, and the Sknyatinskoye hunting farm

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Since 2012, Vnesheconombank has been maintaining permanent partnership relations with the Eurasian Centre of Study, Saving and Renewal of the Population of Leopards. The Centre operates in the Far Eastern 'Leopardoviy' Reserve, the 'Kedrovaya Pad' Wildlife Refuge and the 'Zemlya Leoparda' National Park set up in 2012 following a resolution by the Russian Government and measuring 261.9 thousand hectares in total. The ‘Zemlya Leoparda’ National Park covers the most valuable habitats of the Far Eastern leopard, the rarest leopard subspecies represented by the only population remaining in the Far East and not exceeding 50 leopards.

Supported by Vnesheconombank, the Centre monitors the leopard population, protects their habitats and develops the park’s infrastructure. Another important focus area of the Centre consists in drawing the community’s attention, especially that of young people, to the problem of the Far Eastern leopard. To this end, the Centre organises awareness raising environmental tourism in the park’s territory and promotes local volunteer movements.

Vnesheconombank supported the renovation of the Pilgrimage Centre of the Holy Trinity — St. Sergius Lavra in Sergiev Posad (Moscow Region) that was completed in 2014. The project’s completion coincided with the 700^th anniversary of the Venerable Sergius of Radonezh whose relics are kept in the Holy Trinity Cathedral of the Holy Trinity — St. Sergius Lavra, unique culture, architectural and historical heritage protected by UNESCO.

The Pilgrimage Centre is located in the former trading rows built in the early 20^th century. After the renovation, the rows were returned to their historical appearance. The Centre offers guests and pilgrims who daily arrive at Sergiev Posad a range of information and touristic services, including tours of historical places and Orthodox sacred sites.

In 2014, Vladimir Dmitriev, Chairman of Vnesheconombank, was awarded the 1^st Class Order of Holy Prince Daniel of Moscow for support to construction, charitable and humanitarian projects of the Russian Orthodox Church. The award ceremony was held in the Trinity Cathedral of St. Daniel Monastery of Moscow in the presence of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia.

Globexbank provided support to the VERA Hospice Charity Fund and the ‘Russian Booker Prize’, a non-government literary award sponsored by the Bank since 2012.
EXIAR provided support to the Regional Charitable Public Fund ‘Illustrated Books for Little Blind Children’.
VEB-Leasing helped purchasing computer equipment for children’s educational institutions of Saint Petersburg, Ulyanovsk and Yaroslavl.
SME Bank provided support to the Fund for Development of the Banking System and the Union of Investigation Veterans.
BelVEB provided support to the National Academic Bolshoi Opera and Ballet Theatre of the Republic of Belarus, and Minsk Municipal Clinical Oncologic Dispensary, and also took part in the National Programme 'Culture of Belarus'.
Prominvestbank transferred over 96% of its charitable budget to the bank’s trade union to assist employees, their family members, the bank’s veterans and to low-income people.

In 2014, BelVEB continued financing the national project for publication of the first facsimile edition of books by the Belarusian and Eastern Slav first bookprinter Francysk Skaryna. The project is dedicated to the 500^th anniversary of the day when Francysk Skaryna printed the first book of Eastern Slavs. It is implemented as part of the National Programme ‘Culture of Belarus’.

This 5-year project provides for the publication of 25 books of Skaryna, 1,000 copies of each book. Five books of Francysk Skaryna were printed in 2014 with the help of BelVEB. At a special ceremony, some of them were handed over to heads of diplomatic missions from countries that were related to the life of Skaryna: Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Czech Republic, Germany and Italy, while other were delivered free of charge to district libraries of the Minsk Region. Later on, collections of Skaryna's books are planned to be donated to museums and archives of Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Poland and Germany, as well as to the UN and UNESCO.

Support to events and projects that match the priorities of the development bank’s investment policy lies at the heart of sponsorship activities of Vnesheconombank and the Group’s entities. Every year we are sponsoring top-line international events such as Davos Economic Forum, Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum and Moscow International Forum for Innovative Development ‘Open Innovations’. Our involvement in these ambitious events that are closely watched by the international community reinforces our image of the key Russian development institution actively operating in the global financial market.

In 2014, Vnesheconombank sponsored more than 65 major Russian and international projects to improve the investment climate in Russia and support culture, education and elite sports. The largest sponsorship projects of Vnesheconombank Group’s entities include support by SME Bank to ‘SMALL BUSINESS: RESET’, a forum of the All-Russian Non-governmental Organisation for Small and Medium Business ‘OPORA RUSSIA’, and involvement by EXIAR as a sponsor in a number of international exhibitions and forums where the agency signed strategically important agreements.

Sponsorship performance by Vnesheconombank in 2014:

40 national and international economic forums, conferences and exhibitions;
19 arts and education projects;
8 projects to support elite sports.

In 2014, Vnesheconombank acted as the general partner of the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) that focused on strengthening trust in the age of transformation. The forum’s participants discussed opportunities for unlocking Russia’s competitive potential and implementing breakthrough technologies that would help the Russian economy to adapt to the new situation in the macroeconomic market.

During the Forum, Vnesheconombank entered into a number of cooperation agreements strategically important for the Group and took part in organisation of the Forum’s events: the ‘Nurturing Growth Clusters in Russian Regions’ panel session and the ‘Russian—Italian Business Dialogue: Long-Term Cooperation Prospects’ round table. The Forum also hosted an award ceremony for winners of the ‘Development Award’ established by Vnesheconombank.

Vnesheconombank is a General Partner of SPIEF 2014

Total number of events

73 countries

Official foreign delegations

7,590

Total number of participants

1,439

Total number of journalists

175

Number of agreements signed

RUB 401.4 bn

Total amount of agreements signed

Among the most remarkable sponsor projects of Vnesheconombank is its support to KAMAZ-Master team that has consistently been among the leaders of the Dakar Rally. The most overwhelming victory in the rally was won by the Russian team in 2015 when KAMAZ drivers simply swept the board. These top achievements by KAMAZ-Master were made possible by the support of Vnesheconombank in creating the technical infrastructure for the team, organising the training process and developing new sports vehicles.

The victories of KAMAZ-Master team in prestigious international competitions show the capabilities of the Russian automobile industry and thereby increase its export potential. Thus, this is a considerable contribution by KAMAZ-Master team in the development of KAMAZ manufacturer whose modernisation has been financed by Vnesheconombank for many years.