The Company’s contribution to the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Goal 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

Caring for the health of its employees, their families and the retired remains a core priority of the Company’s social policy.

Health resort treatment, recreation and rest are available at corporate health resorts, holiday hotels, recreational centres and camps.

The Company’s employees have access to healthcare and cardiovascular disease prevention programmes.

The Company consistently promotes healthy lifestyle and creates opportunities for sports activities.

• approved the Plan for Implementing a Risk-oriented Approach to Reducing Cardiovascular Diseases among Russian Railways Employees;
• held about 6,000 events in nine areas under the Russian Railways Healthy Lifestyle Concept for 2020–2025;
• conducted health training sessions;
• had a task force that took active steps to prevent the incursion and spread of the coronavirus to ensure a continuous passenger service.
• Russian Railways’ Healthy Lifestyle Concept project became a winner of the BRICS Solutions for SDGs Awards in the Good Health and Well-being category

Goal 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

The Company’s professional training framework relies on 15 education centres. Our Corporate University trains specialists with higher education and secondary vocational education in cooperation with industry-based higher education institutions (the Programme of Russian Railways’ Interaction with Railway Universities).

Russian Railways has a remote learning system in place, offering a choice of more than 400 courses.

The Group is a founder of 97 educational institutions and operates 25 children's railways. Children's railways include six Kvantorium science parks that encourage innovative thinking and strengthen IT competencies.

Russian Railways created specialised classes at 88 hub schools in 39 Russian regions.

• Provided training to over 229,000 managers and office workers in 2021, of whom over 115,000 employees attended courses at the Russian Railways Corporate University.
• Opened the Far Eastern Branch of Russian Railways’ Corporate University, which provided training to more than 1,400 line heads of the Far Eastern Railway functions in 2021.
• Took the Best Corporate University Overall award by the Global Council of Corporate Universities for its Corporate University.
• Trained 43,000 employees in key jobs, including 34,500 in vocational education centres. Over 185,700 employees completed training as part of professional development programmes, including 146,200 in vocational education centres.
• Set up 27 training classes at dedicated universities to prepare locomotive specialists.
• Updated the distance learning system.
• Made it possible for 60% of students of Russian Railways’ schools and children's railways to enter specialised universities and colleges

Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

Russian Railways has zero tolerance for any types of discrimination, including gender discrimination, in recruitment, staff development and promotions.

The Company implements the Action Plan to improve the conditions of work, leisure, and social support of women in 2021–2025.

The Company consistently expands the list of railway jobs available to women.

• Continued efforts as part of the Coordination Council tasked with improving the conditions of work, leisure, and social support of women;
• expanded the list of railway jobs available to women;
• had first female assistant drivers join the Russian Railways locomotive crews on long-haul and suburban routes

Goal 6: Ensure access to water and sanitation for all

Russian Railways is implementing a Clear Water investment project to upgrade water supply systems and bring the quality of water supplied to consumers in line with standards set by Russian sanitation and environmental laws.

The Company is on track to introduce modern water recycling solutions.

• used 67.35 mcm of water, a decrease of 3.45% y-o-y (target – 2.3%);
• cut wastewater discharges on land and into surface water bodies to 4.66 mcm, a reduction of 14% y-o-y (target – 4%).
• ensured that 0% of untreated wastewater was discharged into surface water bodies

Goal 7: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all

Russian Railways is working on transitioning to alternative and renewable energy sources to make the railway transport even more environmentally friendly.

• Received the BRICS Solutions for SDGs Awards in the Affordable and Clean Energy category for its project Cogeneration Plant Using Old Year Wooden Sleepers as Fuel

Goal 8: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

Russian Railways provides jobs for over 1% of employed Russian citizens.

Russian Railways’ Collective Bargaining Agreement for 2020–2022 provides for social protection of employees, their families and the non-working retired and offers effective tools for employee engagement and incentivisation.

Russian Railways has a number of corporate programmes supporting certain categories of personnel, including young, retired and soon-to-be-retired employees.

• Offers above average wages in almost all Russian regions Except for the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area and the Sakhalin Region, Moscow, and St Petersburg. ;
• Increased salaries by 5.2% as part of indexation;
• Paid success bonuses to 14,400 employees for implementing economically efficient projects

Goal 9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation

Russian Railways’ investment programme for 2021–2023 is focused on developing and upgrading the railway infrastructure and promoting high-speed and ultra high-speed railway transportation.

The Group’s Comprehensive Innovative Development Programme and the Digital Transformation Strategy until 2025 include projects to develop transportation management systems based on artificial intelligence, introduce innovative rolling stock, and other initiatives. The Company promotes partnerships with scientific institutions, manufacturers, and small and medium-sized businesses based on the principle of “open innovation”.

• Carried on with projects to create a digital twin of the Russian railway network, develop transportation management systems based on artificial intelligence, and introduce innovative rolling stock.
• Continued to implement the programme Far Eastern Railway as an Accelerated Development Domain, with results measured against ESG metrics using a performance monitoring system.
• Relied on the upgraded corporate mobile communication system to conduct 645,000 video conferences involving about 40,000 participants. Russian Railways commissioned nearly 4,000 high-speed data transmission centres

Goal 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

The Company is the main provider of suburban passenger transportation in Russia. They are integrating suburban transport into urban transport systems and actively developing multi-modal routes and transport interchange hubs to enhance the mobility of urban population.

• Launched 14 new suburban route.
• Commissioned the Vostochny railway station (Cherkizovo terminal) capable of handling over 24,000 passengers a day.
• Renovated 27 railway stations
• Refurbished waiting rooms at 23 railway stations.
• Revamped approximately 700 passenger platforms.
• Transported 150,900 passengers via SPC multimodal routes in 2021, up 63.2% y-o-y

Goal 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

Company divisions use waste recycling technologies to reduce the negative environmental impact of railway industry-specific waste.

The Company recognises its environmental and social responsibility and fulfils a self-assumed obligation to ensure selective collection of secondary materials (paper, glass, plastic, and household aluminium waste) in its office buildings and at railway stations.

• Replaced mercury vapour lamps with mercury free energy-efficient lighting.
• Sent for reuse recyclables (paper, cardboard, glass, plastic, and household aluminium waste).
• Collected used batteries from the Company's employees and passengers.
• Encouraged the cleaning and outsourcing passenger service companies to take part in the selective collection of paper, glass, plastic, and household aluminium waste as part of the Company’s efforts to reduce landfilled waste

Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

GHG emissions reduction is an integral element of Russian Railways’ Environmental Strategy.

• Implemented initiatives under the Energy Savings and Energy Efficiency Programme, as well as measures aimed at transitioning heat supply utilities to alternative energy sources;
• Purchased modern Russian-made rolling stock with improved environmental performance, including 277 electric locomotives (264 freight and 13 passenger ones);
• Worked on projects to create environmentally friendly traction rolling stock

Goal 15: Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss

Russian Railways is a major natural resource user operating in 77 regions of Russia.

Its impact on the environment is associated with the operation of railways, as well as production and infrastructure facilities, resulting in factors that disturb local fauna and erode biodiversity. The preservation and rehabilitation of ecosystems remain an environmental priority for the Company.

• Implemented 42 biodiversity conservation projects aimed at protecting rare and endangered species listed in the Red Book.
• Planted 630,000 trees

Goal 16: Promote just, peaceful and inclusive societies, ensure equal access to justice for all and develop effective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels

A zero tolerance for corruption in any form or manifestation is indispensable for the Company’s sustainable development. We take all necessary steps to ensure compliance with international and Russian anti-corruption laws both in this area and beyond.

• Ensured full compliance of its operations with the ISO 37001:2016 international anti-corruption standard and the provisions of the Russian Anti-Corruption Charter for Business for the second year in a row.
• Achieved the top A1 rating as a company with the highest level of anti-corruption efforts and a minimum level of corruption risks, associated with a minimum threat to investors, creditors, business partners, and other stakeholders

Goal 17: Revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development

Russian Railways signed the Declaration on Sustainable Mobility of the International Union of Railways (UIC). The Company makes an active contribution to the development of sustainable “green” transport and the implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate change mitigation.

The Group’s business abroad helps build long-term partnerships with international organisations and associations, and coordinates interaction with foreign partners with a view to providing international transport services and developing infrastructure (including abroad) and promoting sustainable development.

• Entered into a memorandum on facilitating sustainable development of transit potential and environmental safety of the EAEU members’ railway shipments.
• The document was signed by heads of railways of the Russian Federation, the Republic of Belarus and the Republic of Kazakhstan.
• Placed a particular emphasis on improving environmental balance in railway transportation and logistics free of CO2 emissions