The Formula for Good Deeds Program Turns 5

9 february 2021

The Formula for Good Deeds, SIBUR's social investment program, is celebrating its fifth anniversary today. Since its launch in 2016, the program has been instrumental in enabling the company to transition from occasional ad hoc relief efforts and one-off campaigns to a consistent and robust charity work program aimed at improving the cities of its presence and becoming one of Russia’s leaders in the field of corporate social responsibility and social investment.

For the regions, the key effects of the program's launch included introduction of a mechanism for contest-based funding of projects and support for grassroots initiatives. A grant contest was initiated concurrently in 17 cities where SIBUR operates and this immediately made the program one of the most geographically diverse compared with similar programs of other companies. Over the five years of its existence, the contest received 3,135 applications, and nearly one-third of them received funding. By the end of 2020, 656 social projects had been implemented, and another 111 will be supported by the company in 2021.

An Open Youth Theater in Tobolsk, Oksky Parafest, an athletic festival in Dzerzhinsk, new displays at the museums of Pyt-Yakh and Gubkinsky, children's orchestras and animation studios, beautified courtyards and playgrounds – this is by no means a complete list of things that have become available in SIBUR’s cities thanks to the grants provided by the Formula for Good Deeds.

Throughout the year, a variety of interregional projects are underway in several cities. SIBUR's partners include the most reputable and well-known institutions, including the State Theater of Nations, Territoriya, the International Festival and School, the Moscow Museum of Design, Children's Villages SOS, an international charitable organization, and many others. In 2016-2021, 158 projects in six different focus areas were granted support. These included tours of the Theater of Nations, art laboratories under the auspices of the Territoriya festival, extreme Character of Steel races, exhibitions by the Moscow Museum of Design, installation of bird feeders, bird counting in Tyumen Oblast, science festivals, and scientific sessions. These events were attended by more than 230 thousand participants.

Since 2017, the Formula for Good Deeds program has been operating a corporate volunteering support program titled People Changing the World with participation by students from SIBUR’s priority universities. Every fifth SIBUR employee has already taken part in a volunteering campaign, with the most active and enthusiastic employees having successfully completed 132 projects in their cities, from Tver to Svobodny. 27 projects were implemented by students who have become real agents of good deeds in their universities and cities.

Over the years, partnerships have evolved into true friendships. Seven representatives of local non-profit organizations and six volunteering activists now serve as the program’s ambassadors representing it not only in their own cities, but also at the regional and national levels.

The Formula for Good Deeds program is highly valued by the expert community and has been receiving multiple awards and prizes every year. In 2020 alone, it was named The Best Program to Support Culture and Art in the 2020 Leaders of Corporate Charity contest conducted by the Ministry of Culture of Russia. In 2020, the Company was ranked (for its Best Practices) among Group A companies in the Leaders of Corporate Charity ranking. Additionally, its interregional Tobolsk Forest project was named the Best Business Project in the Forest Conservation category under the nation-wide Reliable Partner - Ecology contest; and the program was rewarded with the Crystal Pyramid Award as the best in the Corporate Social Responsibility category.

Background information:

The Formula for Good Deeds, SIBUR's social investment program, was launched on February 1, 2016 in all key cities where the company has a presence. It has been focusing on six key areas that address the most important social issues such as urban development, education and science, sports and healthy living, environmental protection, culture, and volunteering. For more information about the program, please visit www.formula-hd.ru.