Investing in Local Communities
The Group is committed to developing long-term and positive relationships with the communities within which it operates.
Petropavlovsk communicates its development plans to local communities and ensures they are actively involved in the process. If issues are raised, they are addressed through public consultation. In 2019 numerous public consultations were held in the village of Zlatoustovsk located close to the Albyn mine.
The Group continues to monitor its ongoing activities, in line with its commitment to maintaining good relationships with local communities and authorities.
Indigenous people
One specific ethnic group encountered in the Amur region are the Evenki people – an indigenous community from north eastern Russia and China whose traditional lands are in the vicinity of the Albyn mine in the north-east of the Amur region. The population of Evenki in the Ivanovskoe village is 374 people and Petropavlovsk considers its residents to be stakeholders and pays special attention to its interactions with them; providing assistance to Evenki reindeer farms, Evenki dance and singing clubs, as well as building social infrastructure in Evenki national villages and participating in preserving traditional Evenki sports.
The Petropavlovsk Foundation
The Group’s commitment to promoting development in the Amur region led it to establish the Petropavlovsk Foundation in 2010.
The Foundation aims to provide local communities with social, economic and cultural opportunities, with the goal of improving quality of life and encouraging investment in the region. It works closely with regional stakeholders ranging from federal groups to small businesses.
The Foundation supports a range of causes falling within six areas of strategic development:
- Education;
- Future Generations (Child Development);
- Culture;
- Quality of Life;
- Sport; and
- Research and Development.
In 2018, the Foundation invested RUB25.8 million in local communities and social development. Some of the key projects included the development of children’s football in the Amur region which aims to create the conditions for local children to succeed in this sport. The annual Amur Autumn festival brought theatre and cinema productions, including famous Russian actors, to the towns and villages where Petropavlovsk employees live in the Amur region.
Grievance Mechanism
A Grievance Procedure has been developed to enable members of the public and other stakeholders to raise complaints or issues concerning Petropavlovsk activities and to be assured that these complaints will receive due consideration and a written response. The introduction of the procedure was approved by the Board of Directors and was implemented throughout 2019.
Complaints can be registered online, with high internet connectivity in even the most remote areas of Amur region serving to make it a convenient way of communication. Several different ways of sending complaints are being tested and considered in order to perfect the procedure.