News

An online business session will be held at 12:00 on 19 June with Russian women leaders on what corporate social responsibility and social investments by business will look like after restrictions are lifted and the world recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The event is being organized by the Council of the Eurasian Women’s Forum (Federation Council Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation), the Innosocium Foundation – the social platform of the Roscongress Foundation, and the Donors Forum.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, most major companies and corporate foundations have been focusing on medical, social, and volunteer institutions that need financial and targeted assistance. According to a survey conducted by the Donors Forum, as of April, a third of companies and foundations planned to maintain their current level of charitable and social support, while 23% planned to increase it. The active involvement of business has also been recognized at the legislative level. On 8 June, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law under which non-governmental organizations, recipients of grants from the president, ministries, agencies, and regions, non-profit community service providers, and social service providers are completely exempt from insurance payments and taxes (excluding VAT) for the second quarter of 2020. The funds that businesses donate to socially-oriented NGOs may be classified as non-operating expenses within 1% of revenue. Thus, the amount of the donations will not be factored into the calculation of taxes.

The charitable sector in Russia is traditionally regarded as female-dominated. Women not only support foundations with direct donations or volunteer assistance, but also largely create and develop infrastructure. To this end, the business session will be addressed by women, each of whom is a leader in her respective field. 

The key issues that will be addressed at the session include:

• What changes will be made to the volume and priorities of support for socially responsible businesses as a result of legislative amendments after quarantine ends entirely?
• What sectors will need additional assistance? How has the crisis impacted education and what solutions can business offer today?
• How do women leaders see corporate CSR strategies developing in the post-coronavirus world?
• What social and charitable anti-crisis projects have been successfully implemented and which ones are still not sufficient?

Business session speakers:

Galina Karelova, Deputy Speaker, Federation Council Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, Chairwoman, Council for the Development of Social Innovations of the Constituent Entities of the Russian Federation under the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation

Elena Marinina, Deputy CEO, Director for the Socio-Economic Agenda, Roscongress Foundation; Director, Innosocium Foundation

Aleksandra Boldyreva, Executive Director, Donors Forum Association

Fatima Mukhomejan, Executive Director, ‘Art, Science and Sports’ Charitable Foundation

Anna Soshinskaya, President, Responsible for the Future Charitable Foundation, Amway Russia

Marina Rakova, Vice President, Sberbank

Alexandra Glazkova, Vice President, Biocad

The session will be broadcast on the Roscongress Foundation’s YouTube channel and on the Roscongress Foundation’s official Facebook page.

16.06.2020