Almaty, 14 October 2024

Eurasian Bank released the first ever Sustainable Development Report 2023. The document was prepared in accordance with the recommendations of the Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market (ARRFR) and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) international standards.

“The ­Eurasian Bank Sustainable Development Report is an important milestone on the way to integrating the sustainable development principles into the Bank work. The Report describes our first steps in ESG and reflects the aspirations and the foundation that we are laying so that sustainable development becomes an integral part of our corporate DNA,” commented Lyazzat Satiyeva, CEO of Eurasian Bank.

The document provides detailed information on the Bank achievements in various areas of sustainable development, as well as the implemented projects and the medium-term plans.

Today, Eurasian Bank is actively striving to ensure that its activities have a positive impact on the environment and society. The share of carbon-intensive industries in the Bank portfolio does not exceed 6%, while many of the customers from these industries are already actively implementing ESG practices in their activities.

In the reporting year, the Bank also calculated direct and indirect energy emissions for 1 and 2 coverage areas (SCOPE 1 and SCOPE 2). The intensity of these emissions in relation to revenue amounted to 0.0178 tons of CO2-eq./mln tenge, which is a fairly low indicator for the banking sector.

Its own environmental impact is also monitored. Within the framework of the green office concept, the Bank annually increases the volume of waste recycling and optimizes the use of resources.

The Bank is actively trying to implement the principles and approaches of responsible financing, allowing it to create products and services that contribute to solving urgent environmental challenges. Together with Mastercard, the Bank for the first time issued the only Eco-card made of recycled plastic in Kazakhstan so far. Part of the green bonuses from transactions goes to the environmental fund for planting trees and recycling garbage. The Eco-card has already been awarded the prestigious PLUS Award.

Following the best international practices, Eurasian Bank began to issue green loans for the purchase of electric vehicles, the report says. The dynamics of sales growth of such cars corresponds to global trends — over the past two years, the number of such cars in our country has increased significantly.

The report also highlights in detail the Bank’s social investments in charitable projects in such areas as education, healthcare, ecology, culture and art. In addition, the Bank pays attention to the development and support of employees, which includes professional growth programs, training and creation of comfortable working conditions.

In the long term, Eurasian Bank plans to become one of the leaders in sustainable banking development, actively contributing to the development of the green economy and social well-being.

Lyazzat Satiyeva noted that the full-fledged ESG strategy is currently being prepared for launch. Its goal is to build an efficient mechanism of activity based on the principles of environmental, social and corporate responsibility of the Bank in the interests of current and future generations in order to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

The full report on sustainable development for 2023 can be found at the Eurasian Bank official website by following this link.