Across villages in Ukraine’s western Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, one can see storks nesting on bird-friendly electricity poles. Over the past decade, Prykarpattyaoblenergo, a company that provides electricity to a half-million consumers, has installed more than 860 metal nests, helping storks and preventing potential power outages from collapsing nests.
For Maryna Saprykina, head of the Kyiv-based Corporate Social Responsibility Development Center, this example is her favorite, representing the perfect balance between business and nature. “I really love it. This is an incredible example of CSR,” said Saprykina.
As the head of the organization, which currently unites about 40 companies in various fields, Saprykina has one major goal — to bring sustainability-oriented thinking into the minds of business people.
New global market trends contribute to her mission. Before, CSR projects relied on the goodwill of companies. Now it’s often a key requirement voiced by investors, clients, employees, and local communities. “The CSR concept has been transformed,” said Saprykina.
Western countries’ recent elevation of environmental concerns also makes Saprykina hopeful. When a Dutch court obliged oil giant Shell to cut its carbon dioxide emissions by 45% before 2030 in May, Saprykina was impressed. “The ruling set a precedent,” she said.
Investors, in some cases, won’t even consider new fossil-fuel projects in Ukraine.
According to Roger Cox, lawyer for Friends of the Earth Netherlands, a Dutch environmental organization, Shell’s “unique case” may influence other large polluters in the future. ”This is a turning point in history,” said Cox, the Guardian reported.
Key trends in Ukraine
After 13 years, Saprykina sees what is on the CSR agenda of Ukrainian market players.
Today’s top priorities include creating an attractive workspace and investing in education, especially in the IT sector. Saprykina sees that these “companies need extraordinary features,” so that newly hired employees will stay for a long time. “This is something that we’ve never seen before,” she said.
As the IT industry grows by an annual 20% in Ukraine, job search sites are full of vacancies from tech companies.
Another popular CSR trend in Ukraine is equality. The Black Lives Matter protests in America heightened awareness, according to Saprykina. “Many companies started to talk about inequality in general,” she said.
Hiring people with physical disabilities is also a priority for many companies.
French retailer Auchan, with 26 stores in Ukraine, says 5% of its 6,000 employees have special needs — either suffering from hearing loss, cerebral palsy or other limitations. According to Zlata Kostyuk, CSR specialist at Auchan, the company assesses potential candidates based on their skills. “Work experience, age, gender, religious or political views do not influence the choice,” said Kostyuk, governmental platform Diia Business reported.
The COVID‑19 pandemic led to an increase in domestic violence in Ukraine, prompting companies to respond.
StarLightMedia, Ukraine’s largest broadcasting group of six TV stations including ICTV and STB, owned by billionaire oligarch Victor Pinchuk, provides a space for victims to store essential items while searching for a new place to live.
The holding also has a project to support families called Zirochky (Stars). According to the company’s 2020 report, employees are offered free parenting classes, discounts on laboratory tests during pregnancy and even paid leave for fathers.
“The borders between personal life and work have blurred, and companies have started to actively support not only moms, but also fathers,” said Saprykina. “It’s a new trend.”
Saprykina’s CSR center is also currently preparing an index of family friendly enterprises.
A stork takes off from a nest equipped with a special structure that prevents its from collapsing in the Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast. Electricity supplier Prykarpattyaoblenergo has installed more than 860 nests since 2011, when the program was launched.
Without exception
Coca-Cola and Pepsi, the world’s top plastic polluters, according to the report published by Break Free From Plastic organization in December 2020, may even be coming around. “Those companies set very ambitious global goals on recycling plastics years ago,” said Saprykina.
However, these companies have also been accused of making little progress globally. According to Anna Cummins, co-founder of US based 5 Gyres Institute, an environmental organization, soft drink and cigarette companies continue to “pump out packaging that damages people’s health, wealth and environment.”
Future focus
Looking ahead, the CSR Center has a number of different youth programs. Among them is Career Hub, a platform which offers educational programs and internships, including in international companies operating in Ukraine. It has already helped to create 45,000 vacancies in different industries like agriculture, banking, media, IT, and law.
For instance, in 2020, KredoBank increased the number of participants in its internship program from 20 to 40 students. According to Viktor Halychynskyi, the bank’s spokesperson, as a result, the bank will have “a high-quality candidate pool of young employees and we can offer them a job,” United Nations Population Fund reported.
But Saprykina said that youth in rural areas, in particular, aren’t aware of opportunities in Ukraine. She is keen on letting them know.
“This is our mission: to keep young people in Ukraine,” she said.
