Social Responsibility

Serving Our Communities

Charitable activities play an important role in Alfa Group companies, which are known for their multi-year traditions of patronage of historical, cultural and spiritual heritage in the regions where they operate. The focus of such activity, taking place primarily in Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Belarus, has always been and will remain support of children and talented young people and the support and promotion of culture, art, education, health and environmental protection. While Alfa aims to achieve leadership in all its businesses, the commercial strategy of each business will always be closely aligned with a strong sense of corporate social responsibility. Through constant efforts to create the conditions for a flourishing society, Alfa Group is also laying the foundations for its own long-term success.

The most significant initiatives of Alfa Group businesses

Humanitarian Activities

Alfa Group companies regularly donate to charities and hold charitable events in Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Ukraine, aimed at supporting socially vulnerable groups of people. Within the framework of these projects financial support is provided to severely ill children, orphanages and remedial schools for children, charitable funds, medical and social institutions, low-income families and pensioners.

Alfa Group companies are partners of the Life Line Charity Foundation for helping severely ill children and have donated more than US $ 23 million over the life of the program. They are also committed to promoting the culture of charity in society: in particular, Alfa-Bank (Russia) creates simple and convenient ways for its customers to make donations through ATM’s, mobile applications and internet banking and by using affinity cards; AlfaStrakhovanie clients could make charitable donations to the Foundation when buying insurance policies on the company’s website;
For the past few years shareholders of Alfa Group Consortium companies have been providing financial assistance to a charitable program "Alfa-Endo" realized together with the Life Line Charity Foundation, CAF (Charities Aid Foundation) and Russian and international professional medical associations to support pediatric endocrinology in Russia. Within this long-term project it is planned to invest up to US $100 million to support a health care promotion program for Russian children;
Within the "Basket of Kindness" federal charitable project organized by X5 Retail Group together with Rus Food Foundation, products are collected for families in need, disabled people and pensioners. Since 2015, 657 tonnes of food aid have been provided to more than 156 thousand families;
X5 Retail Group together with the Search Center for Missing People and the Liza Alert search and rescue team, have rolled out a joint project across 66 regions of Russia to assist lost or disoriented people. Since the start of the project X5 has helped more than 1,400 people to return home safely;
In January 2021, A1 Investment Company announced the establishment of A1 Law Office which aims, among the rest, at delivering quality pro bono legal services to individuals and small businesses in difficult situations in need of defending their legal rights. The A1 Law Office has launched the first in Russia pro bono public online platform for connecting leading legal firms and charity organisations at LegalCharity.ru;
Alfa-Bank (Kazakhstan) supports the first children’s hospice in Kazakhstan for children with oncological diseases "I am with you";
Alfa-Bank (Ukraine) supports patients of the National Institute of Cardiovascular Surgery named after N.M. Amosov, financing the purchase of medical equipment, tools and medicines.

Alfa Group Companies’ Initiatives During the COVID-19 Pandemic

In 2020-2021, Alfa Group companies transferred money to finance anti-COVID-19 measures, acquired medical equipment and medicines for medical institutions, personal protective equipment was purchased for medical personnel and volunteers.

In March 2020, following a shareholders’ decision, A1 investment company transferred RUR 1 bln of its profit to support the Russian state’s anti-COVID-19 measures. Funds were provided to volunteer organization "Medical Volunteers" and were used for targeted assistance to pensioners and other groups of citizens in self-isolation;
During the pandemic children from orphanages received from Alfa-Bank (Russia) laptops and computers for online education activities during the lockdown, Alfa-Bank (Belarus) supported the Good Phone project — a hot line used by elderly people for food and medicines to be delivered by volunteers to lonely pensioners, funds were donated by Alfa Capital for a project of volunteers who buy and deliver essential supplies and food to those in need and for a fund that uses targeted assistance to regional hospitals;
IDS Borjomi, supporting patients with coronavirus in Russia, has delivered more than 150 tons of water since March 29, 2020, organized regular water delivery to more than 30 hospitals and medical institutions. In Ukraine the company purchased medical equipment (respiratory medical devices) for a local medical institution, delivered more than 30 thousand liters of water to hospitals during the pandemic;
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Alfa-Bank (Belarus) sponsored personal protective equipment to be supplied for 15 thousand social workers and Red Cross nurses, Alfa-Bank (Russia) and Alfa Capital purchased respiratory medical devices and equipment for medical institutions. In big cities throughout the country Alfa-Bank (Russia) created supportive videos for hospitals and medical stations, made coffee points for ambulance crews;
During the pandemic, X5 Retail Group stepped in to deliver food to medical personnel working with COVID-19 patients. More than 70,000 doctors in 17 regions of Russia received 75.9 tonnes of food.

Education Support and Talent Development

Alfa Group businesses finance internships for young specialists, sponsor grants to pay for education in business schools, organize forums and conferences to discuss issues relevant for business and the economy.

Alfa-Bank (Russia) finances the Alfa Chance Program which provides financial support to talented students from Russian universities. The most outstanding young people receive scholarships, a chance to become interns at Alfa-Bank and an access to professional community;
Within the Alfa Fellowship program supervised by Alfa-Bank (Russia), young foreign specialists undergo internships at leading companies in Russia. The aim of this program is to promote and reinforce social and cultural relations between Russia, the USA, the UK and Germany;
Amsterdam Trade Bank N.V. financially supports United World Colleges since 2018. It provides Dutch students with the opportunity to attend one of the 17 UWC colleges worldwide and international students to study at UWC Maastricht in The Netherlands;
Alfa-Bank (Ukraine) is a signatory of the Ukrainian Pact for Youth 2025, an initiative of the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine, the Center for the Development of Corporate Social Responsibility and the UN Population Fund. The Bank conducts a number of projects aimed at creating new jobs for talented youth and keeping them in Ukraine;
Alfa-Bank (Ukraine) continues to support education for all segments of the population. The bank has become a partner of the PROfile career guidance project for high schoolers and their parents, which is designed to tell that there are no successful professions, but there are successful professionals. The Bank, together with Kyiv School of Economics, one of the most prestigious institutions of higher education of Ukraine, launched an online course for representatives of the business environment — "Successful business in an era of dynamic crises";
Alfa-Bank (Belarus) is a partner of the BSU FINANCE CHALLENGE open student competition for the financial appraisal of companies, which is held by the Belarusian State University. 2nd-5th year students as well as master’s degree students of any Belarusian universities are invited to participate in the competition. Alfa-Bank (Belarus) offers finalists an internship at the bank;
X5 Retail Group’s annual internship programs STARtX5 gives senior students and graduates from universities in Moscow and other cities an opportunity to apply for an internship at X5 Technologies, and the best interns will become the part of the X5 team;
X5 Retail Group has founded the "Industrial Data Analysis in Retail" department in the Phystech School of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. Every year, within the joint masters program 20 highly qualified specialists capable of setting and solving retail industry problems through data analysis will be graduated. Training at the department is free and all students will be paid increased scholarships from X5. As they study, students are also trained or employed by X5 Technologies for a competitive salary;
X5 Retail Group has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the Higher School of Economics to launch the educational program "Innovations in Retail" for students of the Higher School of Economics and other universities. The result of the training will be the development of the innovative product or a service which could be implemented at X5 infrastructure and the company could select the best students for further work at X5.

Support of Culture and National Heritage

Sporting Initiatives

Environment and Safety

Alfa Group companies participate in environmental conservation activities and promote responsible consumption and use of resources.

Since 2019, Alfa-Bank (Ukraine) has been a member of the United Nations Global Compact Local Network in Ukraine — the official representative of the UN Global Compact global network for businesses in the field of sustainable development. By joining the UN Global Network, the bank demonstrates its responsibility and transparency of its operations, conducting business in accordance with the fundamental values and principles of the UN Global Compact in the field of human rights, labor relations, the environment and the fight against corruption, and promoting the Sustainable Development Goals;
In accordance with the X5 Retail Group’s sustainability strategy approved in December 2019, the company is focused on the four global sustainable development goals (SDGs) to which X5 can make the greatest contribution. One of them is to promote responsible consumption and use of resources. To that end, the Company plans to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and its total waste generation rate by 30% as well as meet 30% of its energy needs with renewable energy by 2030;
Following implementation of the Green Office principles in its offices as well as in branches in order to optimize the use of resources, Alfa-Bank (Ukraine) in 2020 refused to print classic corporate calendars for 2021 and the money not spent on designing and printing of calendars were donated by the bank for purchase of equipment and medicines for the National Institute of Cardiovascular Surgery named after N.M. Amosov;
Paperless banking is one of Alfa-Bank’s (Russia) strategic initiatives. During 2020 the bank reduced its paper document flow by 40%, which helped to save more than 70 tons of paper. Each of the bank’s new offices will save up to 10 tons of paper per year by using new technologies and digital solutions. Alfa-Bank’s cards can be used via phone only — the bank’s clients have a choice not to issue a plastic card. Eco-friendly packages for cards save up to 29 tons of paper per year and don’t harm the environment. A special collection of Alfa-Bank’s (Russia) merch was designed to attract attention to environmental problems and to minimize negative environmental impact: pens and notepads are made of recycled plastic cards. In addition, the bank actively supports environmental projects in regions of Russia by financing the environment improvements of parks, planting trees and encouraging the participation of volunteers in voluntary works and other green events;
In 2020, Alfa Capital took an active part in the reclamation of disturbed lands in Altai — 5 hectares of lands disturbed as a result of gold mining were restored on the Sredny Uksunai site in the Salair National Park. 10,000 of cedar seedlings planted served as a start of environmental protection of the newly established national park;
"Perekrestok" and "Pyaterochka" (X5 Retail Group) have begun to abandon paper receipts in stores: customers can refuse to print a receipt in favor of an electronic version through the mobile application.