SIBUR’s Sustainability Committee outlines further steps in coronavirus response

Moscow, 20 April 2020. SIBUR’s Sustainability Committee held a regular meeting online to review measures implemented by the Company in dealing with the COVID-19 outbreak and approve further steps in key focus areas. The safety of our employees and clients is at the centre of the Company’s pandemic response.

SIBUR works consistently and proactively to tackle COVID-19 and its consequences. The Company is placing major emphasis on protecting its employees and partners as it seeks to maintain the highest level of customer service and meet the increased demand for materials used in medical products and safe packaging.

We have cancelled all employee business trips, urging staff to refrain from personal travel outside the region of their residence. The Company has asked office employees to work remotely while retaining their salary levels. For employees engaged in the continuous production of supplies for strategically important industries, including the healthcare sector, SIBUR has introduced a shift-camp work model. With their full agreement, employees are transitioned to live and work at on-site shift camps, with shifts rotating every two weeks. Before joining a shift, all staff members are tested for coronavirus. All of them, including heads of production units who have tested negative are isolated from the outside world with their consent to live and work in a special safety environment created on site. The facilities available to them include dormitories, canteens offering three-time meals at the Company’s expense, convenience stores, recreational areas and first aid posts. Those joining shift camps will see their monthly remuneration increase by 20%.

The Sustainability Committee highlighted the importance of continued partnership with external counterparties. As of now, SIBUR delivers on all of its contractual obligations and takes active steps to mitigate the risk of non-performance due to imposed restrictions, including by altering its supply routes to overcome logistic limitations in certain regions.

The Company increases its production of polymers, including polypropylene, to ensure supply of high-quality disposable PPE to healthcare facilities. The prices for medical grade polymers are kept at their minimum levels. We also expand cooperation with producers of medical supplies to support high utilisation of their capacities and help drive their production growth. In addition, SIBUR invests in developing a feedstock base for import substitution of medical products in order to meet the nation-wide demand for disposable PPE.

As part of social and economic support in its regions of operation, the Company will provide over 40,000 epidemiological kits required by healthcare facilities. On top of anti-crisis aid, the committee decided to continue the Formula for Good Deeds charitable programme, keeping its scope intact. The Company works together with its partners and grantees to transform the 2020 projects and ensure their successful implementation while abiding by the strict safety requirements for organisers and attendees.

Alexey Kozlov, Managing Director and Member of SIBUR’s Management Board, commented: “SIBUR remains focused on ensuring the safety of our employees and clients. We take comprehensive measures to mitigate the negative impact of the coronavirus outbreak, regularly monitor their effectiveness and maintain a flexible approach to planning further steps. We will continue to work closely with our partners, clients and government authorities to respond to this challenge and its developments promptly and effectively.” 

More information on SIBUR’s effort to fight COVID-19 is available in the dedicated section of its corporate website at https://www.sibur.ru/en/sustainability/covid-19/