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 $15 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;
- 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, 466 tonnes of food aid have been provided to 47,900 families in 60 cities;
- 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 65 regions of Russia to assist lost or disoriented people. After one year from the start of the project X5 has helped 502 people to return home safely;
- Alfa-Bank (Kazakhstan) supports the first children's hospice in Kazakhstan for children with oncological diseases “I am with you”;
- Alfa-Bank (Ukraine) joined the large-scale charity project «Make a Wish», which aims to help severely ill children from all over Ukraine to fulfill their cherished dreams and to teach all Ukrainian children to dream big. Within the framework of the project, the bank helped to realize dreams of seriously ill children and also became a partner to launch the unique space mission “Ray of Dreams“ together with the State Space Agency of Ukraine and with the support of NASA. to send into space more than 100,000 digital dream drawings collected from all over Ukraine;
- Alfa-Bank (Belarus) joined the charity project “Let’s improve the quality of life for diabetes children” (financing the purchase of insulin pumps for children with diabetes). The pump-based insulin therapy method allows children with diabetes live a full life on par with their peers.
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. Within this program gifted school graduates at eighteen Russian Higher Educational Institutions receive monthly scholarships during the first two years of study;
- 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;
- Alfa-Bank (Belarus) provides a free mentoring course “Alfa-Perspective” for motivated 3rd-5th year students. The students gain experience in programming and working with real banking products and receive scholarships from the bank. Alfa-Bank (Belarus) is the general partner of the open student competition in financial analysis at Belarusian National Technical University. 3rd-5th year students as well as undergraduates of all Belarusian universities are invited to participate. Alfa-Bank (Belarus) pays the fee to pass the CFA exam for the winner and gives him/her the opportunity to find a job in the bank.
Support of Culture and National Heritage
As part of the activities aimed to support cultural and national heritage, financial assistance is provided to musical festivals and competitions, literary prizes, film festivals, theater projects, art centers and national culture days.
- In 2011, Alfa-Bank (Ukraine) founded the international jazz festival Leopolis Jazz Fest in Lviv and from 2017 it has been the banking partner of the festival, ensuring smooth operation of the local contactless payment areas;
- The largest Russian open-air festival – “Alfa Future People” is held annually in Nizhny Novgorod with Alfa-Bank’s (Russia) sponsorship;
- Alfa-Bank (Russia) is one of the founders of the “Big Book” National Literary Award, which has been the biggest literary prize in Russia for many years.
Sporting Initiatives
Employees of Alfa Group companies take part in charitable runs and marathons, while companies participate in the organization of sport events as sponsors.
- Alfa-Bank (Russia) was the official European bank of the 2018 FIFA World Cup™ and 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup;
- Alfa-Bank (Belarus) provides sponsorship to a number of sports associations in Belarus: the Belarusian Republican Federation of Diving, the Belarusian Skiing Federation, the Belarusian Handball Federation, the hockey club “Aichyna”, the amateur hockey club “Zubr”, the volleyball club “Minsk” and the football club “Minsk”;
- Alfa-Bank (Belarus) traditionally supports triathlon competitions “Alfa-Bank Minsk Triathlon” as well as ISWIM OPEN MINSK and Minsk Half Marathon.
Environment, Health and Safety
Alfa Group companies participate in environmental clean up campaigns and organize school meetings to discuss ecological issues. Within the “Donor’s Day” charitable campaign, employees donate blood for severely ill people.
- 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;
- In March 2020, following a sharehoders’ 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 will be used for targeted assistance to pensioners and other groups of citizens in self-isolation;
- In 2019, Alfa-Bank (Ukraine) became 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.;
- Alfa-Bank (Russia) started using eco-friendly packages for its cards, which saves up to 29 tons of paper per year and doesn’t harm the environment. In addition, the bank actively supports environmental projects in regions of Russia by financing the improvements of parks, planting trees and encouraging the participation of volunteer employees in community work days and other green events.