The Gazprom Board of Directors took note of the information about the current state of corporate governance, corporate ethics, and transparency of activities at Gazprom.
It was highlighted that year after year the Company systematically enhances its corporate standards taking into account, inter alia, the opinions of the investment and expert community. As a result, the corporate governance system conforms to the listing rules of the Russian exchanges and the key recommendations of the Corporate Governance Code of the Bank of Russia, and protects the rights and interests of the shareholders.
In 2020, the work on the development of corporate governance was continued.
Against a backdrop of the restrictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Gazprom for the first time ever applied an electronic voting procedure during the annual General Shareholders Meeting. In practice, this service proved comfortable for the shareholders.
Increased attention was paid to further expansion of the volume of information voluntarily disclosed by Gazprom. In 2020, the Company arranged another series of inquiries among the shareholders and investors on the topics related to sustainable development and corporate governance. The recommendations obtained are taken into account when designing the activities for further development of corporate governance.
Another important line of work is the development of an effective system for timely prevention and settlement of situations related to conflicts of interest. The Company has in place a number of internal documents, including the Code of Corporate Ethics of Gazprom. The Corporate Ethics Committee on a regular basis consults the Company’s employees on the provisions and application of the Code, addresses requests from individuals and legal entities, and maintains interactions on the issues of corporate ethics with controlled entities.
In 2020, Gazprom held another training session for the employees of the parent company on the topic “Corporate Ethics” followed by a final test.
According to an independent assessment of corporate governance carried out by the Expert RA rating agency, Gazprom was assigned the highest governance quality rating of A++.gq. The assessment results were summed up and announced in February 2021. The factors that had had a positive impact on the rating included a high level of organization observed in the work of Gazprom’s management bodies, as well as in the auditing procedure and strategic planning, protection of the rights of the shareholders and employees, and the transparency of information.
The Management Committee was tasked with continuing the work on enhancing corporate governance at Gazprom.
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