Russian Railways Logistics is a company of high social standards. Corporate Responsibility and Sustainable Development are the key pillars of RZDL social strategy for the upcoming years. We believe that the strong company may not grow without successful social and sustainable policies. Based on this statement we focus on people we work with, environment we care for and the society we live in.
We share these values with our team members to further engage them in the global initiative within the Earth Charter and the UN 2005 World Summit Outcome Document, which refers to the "interdependent and mutually reinforcing pillars" of sustainable development as economic development, social development, and environmental protection and the Kyoto Protocol (adopted in Kyoto, Japan, on 11 December 1997) from the other side, which is an international agreement linked to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and commits its parties by setting internationally binding emission reduction targets. We act in accordance but not limited to this global initiatives.
In 2004 the Russian government accepted the law on ratification of the Kyoto Protocol. Moreover, as an alternative to the Kyoto articles, Russia initiated its own program (2013) on the reduction of CO2 emission, which limits the allowed emission to 75% of the level of the year of 1990. This initiative complies with the Climate Doctrine (2009), which says that the following the international environmental standards is a contribution to the sustainable political and economic stability of the country.
In the framework of these global and local initiatives RZDL develops its own corporate policies on Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development and understands the value of the action for the business itself and for the global society.
Social Policy
Thus we started from our employees as we believe that the human capital is our main value and strength, which will allow us to grow extensively and expand rapidly to new markets and to offer efficient solutions to our clients. Our human resources policy is strongly based on long-term investment in personnel:
- We launched motivation packages to increase employee motivation and we offer a broad range of social incentives for the employees and their families.
- We invest substantially in employee development and support an extended educational and training network specializing in the railway industry.
- As a part of the agreement with our Parent company, RZD Holding, our team members may use the wide range of facilities of the company starting from study centers, universities and R&D institutes specializing in railway transport and engineering.
- Our top managers cooperate with the faculty of Moscow State University of Railway Engineering and often invited to give lectures at the university.
Social Responsibility
The next pillar of our social strategy is central and it is a society itself. Our activities in this area are also quite diverse:
- University students may do internships at our company and be invited to join the team of professionals. In the future they may participate in the new projects and receive training and mentorship opportunities, which will definitely add a great value to their careers.
- We also provide scholarship and mentorship opportunities, basically we strive to create a better future for our children.
- Considerable amount of our socially responsible activities are focused on charitable campaigns, which allow us to cooperate with a significant number of socially responsible companies and NGOs and to improve the living conditions and the health of people, who need expensive medical treatment.
Charity
Charitable activities are very important. Funds for these activities are issued on the basis of RZDL financial indicators for the last fiscal year and amount to not less than 2% of the net profit. The funds are used in accordance with the decision of the Board of Directors on the basis of the approved budgets through charity organization Transsoyuz to support charity programs of national importance, which raise consolidated funds of Russian Railways Holding subsidiaries.
RZDL charity activities aim at:
- Social support and protection of citizens including activities on improvement of the material standing of the poor, social rehabilitation of the unemployed and disabled to support their integration into society.
- Providing assistance to victims suffered from natural disasters, social, national, religious conflicts, the victims of repression, refugees and displaced persons;
- Promotion of prestige and role of the family in society;
- Protection of motherhood, childhood and parenthood;
- Assistance in activities in the field of education, science, culture, art, and spiritual development of the individual;
- Assistance in implementing activities on health protection and promoting healthy lifestyles of the citizens;
- Supporting physical culture and sports activities;
- Environmental protection;
- Protection and proper maintenance of buildings, sites and areas of historical, religious, cultural and environmental importance, as well as disposal sites.
Sustainable development
Another concern is environmental issue, which rises simultaneously with the growth of industries. According to statistics on CO2 emission in 2010 the share of Russia is half of the value of the EU countries. Due to economic reforms Russia succeeded in cutting emission by 34% since 1999 in spite of the tight relations of Russian energy sector with the export of non-renewable energy sources.
Unfortunately it is almost impossible to stop the influence of business on environment. However, we believe that there are a lot of ways to decrease this negativity by using environmentally friendly technologies, especially in the era of smart solutions. Thus, in order to reach sustainability, RZDL:
Focuses mainly on rail freight, which is considered to be the most environmentally friendly transportation mode. A freight train is considered to be up to 12 times less air polluting than cars or trucks, moreover, it uses 3-6 times less fuel than trucks. Another advantage is time and cost efficiency of the railroads: RZDL decreases cargo shipment time by half and cuts other expenditures. For example, on the contrary to sea freight, which is usually used on Europe-Asia route, RZD Logistics practices rail freight and cuts the shipment time by half from about 40 days to 20 days.
Even though RZDL provides attractive rail alternatives to air, sea and truck routes the company service is not limited to rail forwarding. The company provides integrated logistics solutions for the convenience of its clients based on door-to-door principle by combining all transportation modes.
In order to replace the use of trucks RZDL developed container train project for large cargo of several shippers and less than carload project for small cargo to be delivered to the territories with the low population density.
Moreover, RZDL raises safety issue, which is very crucial in the transportation business and requires development of transport security system and implementation of high-tech initiatives. In the framework of this initiative the company developed the secure transportation and secure warehousing projects.
In spite of the fact that sustainable development initiative is just in its first phase of development and needs some research and the company plans to move towards green supply chain and to implement energy usage policies by optimization of every step of its operations.
Social Policy
Thus we started from our employees as we believe that the human capital is our main value and strength, which will allow us to grow extensively and expand rapidly to new markets and to offer efficient solutions to our clients. Our human resources policy is strongly based on long-term investment in personnel: