Charity

“The true goal of charitable activities is not to give charity, but to have no one in need of charity.”
Vasiliy Klyuchevskiy

Today, many social projects may only be implemented by joint state and business efforts. For MICEX as an infrastructure organization, the concept of “socially responsible business” that has become so popular recently is not simply a trend but a very important and natural element of the Exchange’s corporate culture and long-term development strategy.

MICEX’s corporate charitable activities are not a new phenomenon at all. Responsible business practices have always been a basic and inherent principle of MICEX’s strategy. Throughout its history, MICEX has participated in many large and socially significant projects, providing aid to children’s hospitals, public organizations and foundations, cultural and art institutions, military organizations, educational institutions, etc.

In 1995, MICEX allocated 1 million US dollars for the restoration of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Target-oriented aid was also given for reconstructing the Tsar Gates, a chapel iconostasis.

The Center for Corporate Entrepreneurship, where students acquire specialized knowledge from practicing entrepreneurs, was established in Moscow with our assistance. MICEX organizes excursions and holds lectures for students on issues related to exchange activities, the development of financial markets, and modern business practices.

In 2002, the Exchange organized the first MICEX cultural and educational charitable project aimed at preserving the history of Russian securities – The All-Russia Exhibition and Auction of Securities Collections from the Russian Empire. As part of this project, the Exchange History Museum was opened at MICEX, featuring exhibitions that we collected piece by piece over the years.

In recent years, it has become apparent that the standards of corporate social responsibility have changed and a variety of methods are available for implementing important social projects.

In 2004, MICEX set forth new principles for and approaches to the creation of socially-oriented business – shifting its focus from one-time charitable gifts and patronage of the arts to a policy of integrated social responsibility that emphasizes transparency, targeting, and the effective use of funds allocated for social programs.

Each project we have implemented is a reflection of the principles of MICEX’s corporate culture and its desire to maintain and strengthen its reputation in society and business. The Exchange’s charitable activities are social investments in which each charity recipient is MICEX‘s partner.

The Exchange has developed and approved two documents reflecting the basic values and standards of MICEX’s corporate charitable activities – the MICEX Charitable Policy and the Regulations for Participating in Charitable Activities. According to these documents, the most significant focus of MICEX’s charitable activities is in the areas of health care (targeted assistance to specialized children’s institutions), education, culture and the arts. Representatives from various levels of management participated in the decision-making process, ensuring the involvement of a large number of employees in the common cause of creating social programs.

Under these circumstances, it became possible to initiate the exchange’s first volunteer social project providing charitable aid to the victims of the Beslan terrorist attack. In response to this tragic event, the MICEX Group’s employees collected, by their own efforts, about 1 million rubles to provide charitable aid to families of 18 victims and critically wounded children undergoing medical treatment in Moscow hospitals. Representatives from the public commission established for rendering aid to the victims delivered money in person to relatives of children in Moscow three hospitals. The Exchange also supported the victims by donating more than 3 million rubles to The Russian Red Cross, The Aid Fund for Victims of Terrorism in Beslan, and the families of the deceased and injured officers of the Alpha and Vympel units.

One of MICEX’s largest charitable projects in 2004 was its interaction with The Moscow Regional Psychoneurological Hospital for Children with Central Nervous System Damage and Mental Illness. This long-term project initiated by the Exchange included allocating more than 2 million rubles for the reconstruction and re-equipment of the hospital’s surgical unit. The renovation of the surgical unit in accordance with current surgical practices and partial replacement of the equipment were completed in only 4 months at MICEX‘s expense. The Exchange also financed a new ventilation and oxygen supply system, which doctors hope will allow them to perform non-invasive procedures for treating patients with hereditary neuromuscular diseases. On the 22nd of December, representatives from MICEX and the Russian Federation’s Ministry of Public Health participated in the operating room’s grand opening ceremony. MICEX’s cooperation with the hospital is ongoing. In March 2005, the Exchange began a reconstruction and re-equipment project for the hospital’s swimming pool and hydropathic facility.

As part of The Aid Program for Blind and Visually Impaired Children, the Exchange provided assistance to the Illustrated Books for Blind Children Regional Public Fund and Kindergarten No. 1078 for children with visual impairment. On the 15th of December 2004, MICEX’s representatives took part in the ceremonial delivery of books to Kindergarten No.1243 as part of the children’s holiday “Hello, Books.” Due to MICEX’s repeated participation in the project, the Exchange became a full-fledged participant in the UN and UNESCO Books for Every Blind Child program.

With the Exchange’s assistance, the Istselenie Choreographic Association for Children with Orthopedic Disorders was able to make special suits for children. MICEX’s cooperation with the Association has continued for a number of years and is one of its longest-lasting partnerships.

In December 2004, we implemented our first New Year’s project, in which MICEX sent New Year’s congratulations and gifts to disabled children in all of the organizations receiving charity from MICEX in 2004.

In the same year, we initiated a charitable program in the sphere of culture and arts, under which the Exchange renewed its patronage of the arts by supporting the concert featuring winners of the Third A.N. Skryabin International Piano Competition and the publication of “The History of Money in Russia: 350 Years of the Russian Ruble.” 2004 marked the anniversary of the Russian ruble: 350 years from the creation of the first ruble coin, 300 years from the beginning of regular mass coinage of rubles under Peter I, and 235 years from the issue of the first Russian paper money – banknotes with a face value denominated in rubles. The implementation of these projects was made possible by MICEX’s fruitful cooperation with the Evgeniy Svetlanov Charitable Foundation and the Kremlin Museums of Moscow.

2005’s arts and culture program continued with one of the Exchange’s largest cultural projects: the restoration of the interior of the Coronation Hall in Yusupovski Palace, St. Petersburg. On the 9th of June 2005, the ceremonial presentation of the project took place in Yusupovski Palace.

We are especially proud of the fact that we succeeded in restoring the historical spirit of the hall’s ancient interior; we acquired copies of two paintings that gave the hall its name, “The Coronation of Alexander I” and “The Coronation of Pavel I”.

In the same year, MICEX launched another cultural project implemented jointly with the Historical Museum: the reconstruction of the iconostasis in the church of Nicholas Velikoretsky in Moscow’s Pokrovsky Cathedral.

To exercise control over and assess the effectiveness of charitable programs and projects, the Exchange created the MICEX Special Commission on Charitable Policy, which regularly monitors our projects’ adherence to the goals of the MICEX corporate social responsibility policy.

In selecting partners for our social programs we are guided, first of all, by confidence and conviction that money will spent wisely and used effectively. Although our charitable programs do not cover the whole spectrum of society’s problems, it is not necessary that they do so. Businesses are not able to help everyone, nor can they fill the role of the State. However, businesses are capable of using their resources for the long-term treatment of a particular social problem in order to ultimately eliminate it. Such problems must be dealt with professionally as is the case in business. For this reason, our new charitable strategy has replaced traditional donations with long-term programs and social investments designed to resolve problems in the long run. This approach has allowed us to see real results from each of our projects at every stage of their implementation. This is an important goal of our corporate charitable activities – long-term results. In the future, we hope that our social programs will achieve the true goal of charitable activities – “... to have no one in need of charity.”