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 Roscongress Foundation, 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: amendments to Federal Law No. 172-FZ dated 8 June 2020 «On Amendments to
Part 2 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation» have taken effect as part of a
package of measures adopted by the country’s leadership for social workers. Per
the document, SMEs working in sectors that have been affected as well as
socially oriented NPOs and recipients of the relevant subsidies and grants
are exempted from paying taxes and insurance premiums that accrued in the second
quarter of 2020. In addition, the funds that businesses donate to
socially-oriented NPOs 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.
