Ekaterina Salugina-Sorokovaya commented on ESG reporting

During ECUMENE 2022, the ICLRC General Director Ekaterina Salugina-Sorokovaya provided a commentary to TASS on the matters of compatiability of the Russian, Eastern, and Asian non-financial reporting requirements, as well as possible obstacles for Russian exporters with regards to ESG reporting.

Currently, in Russia there are both the recommendations of the Bank of Russia and the requirements of the Moscow Exchange regarding the disclosure of non-financial information, for listed companies. In different countries, the availability and ratio of guidelines and mandatory requirements varies, but in general, Russian approaches to reporting are comparable with foreign ones, since both have been developed taking into account international standards. In addition, they have a common goal — to provide the public with essential information about the organizations' impact on the environment, social sphere, and economy. Also, the list of recommended factors for disclosure is almost identical.

In my opinion, there will be no significant difficulties in redirecting the exports of Russian companies to Asian and Eastern markets in the aspect of non-financial reporting. However, as in any aspect of foreign economic activity, it is necessary to take into account, despite the uniformity of some factors disclosed in the reporting, the specifics of national regulation and the need to comply with the applicable regulations of a particular jurisdiction," noted Ekaterina.