Green finance

State Development Corporation VEB.RF’s principal objective is to be a driver of economic growth in Russia and to improve quality of life of the Russian people. We are convinced that this objective is unattainable without considering environmental aspects of each and every business project. The environment is the common heritage of the humankind. Today, the spotlight is on the green economy, which may become a growth driver and create hundreds of thousands of jobs.

VEB.RF is developing the national green finance system in collaboration with ministries, the Bank of Russia, and the expert and business communities. The system will enable Russian companies to obtain loans for the implementation of green projects on favorable terms.

The system will be based on the Russian Green Finance Guidelines (see Methodology section). The guidelines are aligned with the national priorities, including the Environmental Protection national project. The guidelines will take account of the relevant experience of major international organizations (CBI, ICMA, and IDFC) and China, the first country to develop and implement such guidelines.

The guidelines working group would like to highlight that the guidelines are available as a consultative draft which will be improved to incorporate comments and recommendations of all the stakeholders. Please send your comments and recommendations to green@veb.ru.

Alexey Miroshnichenko

Deputy Chairman — Member of the Management Board

“The Russian Green Finance Guidelines will lay the groundwork for a respective Russian national market. We expect that this sector will ensure a higher rate of economic growth, and investors in green projects will be able to count on premium from the market and the government, in the future. Russian citizens will benefit from high performance jobs and enabling environment for themselves and their children.”

Andrei Klepach

Chief Economist

“VEB.RF is ready to provide methodological support to projects which meet sustainable development principles, including green projects. The primary objective of our development institution is to improve standards of living in Russia. New guidelines are fully in line with the national priorities, particularities and requirements of the Russian economy. We are ready to develop this system in close cooperation with the government, the market, Russian and international scientific and expert communities.”

Cesare Maria Ragaglini

Deputy Chairman

“Today, Russia begins its journey to establish the architecture of the green finance market. This market has tremendous requirements and opportunities in Russia. We would like to make the guidelines absolutely clear and recognised by international investors. This is why our system will be highly harmonised with the relevant international standards. It will allow us to attract international investors willing to contribute to tackling the climate change and protecting the environment to Russian projects. We believe that unprecedented challenges for our planet may be tackled only by unprecedented cooperation between all the countries.”

The draft Russian Green Finance Guidelines (the ‘Guidelines’) aim at stimulating investments in the Russian Federation and attracting private investment to green finance projects contributing towards the national development goals of the Russian Federation, the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and the Paris Agreement. The Guidelines are compliant with the OECD sustainable development standards and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.

The Guidelines outline:

1. Russian National Green Projects Taxonomy (Annex 1 to the Guidelines).
2. Procedure for assessing compliance of financial instruments with the Guidelines, including:
   1. Criteria of compliance of financial instruments with the Guidelines;
   2. Procedure for assessing compliance of financial instruments with the Guidelines;
   3. Procedure on how to become a verifier.

The Guidelines do not cover government financial instruments support measures which are governed by respective guidelines and are within the remit of the executive authorities.

Please send your proposals and comments to green@veb.ru

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