ACRA and the European University at St. Petersburg have entered into a strategic partnership agreement to develop the green and responsible finance market, as well as corporate sustainability practices. The memorandum on cooperation was signed by Managing Director of ACRA Alexey Mukhin and Rector of the European University Vadim Volkov.
The agreement provides for holding training events together, preparing and publishing joint informational and analytical materials on sustainability, energy efficiency, and the green and responsible finance market, as well as putting forward joint initiatives on the creation of legislative and regulatory acts in the field of financial market development.
Sustainable development is one of the most dynamically developing areas at ACRA. We have put together a team of ESG risk assessment professionals at the Agency and want to develop and enhance best practices for responsible finance in Russia. I am certain that this cooperation, which seeks to increase the level of knowledge and competencies in the field of sustainability, with the European University, one of the country’s most progressive educational institutions, will help make the financial market more efficient,
commented Mr. Mukhin.
We are delighted to cooperate with ACRA as we know that our applied research and educational initiatives may be needed by the Russian business community. It is not possible to discuss sustainable development of the Russian economy without assessing the respective investment potential and legal regulation, and we still have a lot to do in this area,
commented Mr. Volkov.
Founded in 1994 as a graduate school, the European University at St. Petersburg (EUSP) is a private Russian university with a global reputation in the field of social sciences and the humanities. As a research university, the EUSP is known for its Arctic social studies, research on law enforcement, energy policy and responsible financing, the history of the seige of Leningrad, as well as research on the economics and sociology of culture, carried out in collaboration with the State Hermitage Museum.
ACRA offers a wide range of sustainability services, including assigning ESG scores to financial and non-financial companies, sovereign and sub-sovereign entities, and assessing green bonds and loans, social bonds and loans, and sustainable development bonds and loans. In 2020, the ICMA included ACRA in its list of independent verifiers of the quality of ESG assets and confirmed the compliance of the Agency’s methodologies and approaches with ICMA guidelines and international industry standards.