Local communities

Gold mining companies invariably have an impact on the regions where they operate, due to the very nature of their operations.

Polyus works hard to ensure that its business improves people’s lives and contributes towards the development of local communities. Our company is one of the largest taxpayers and employers in the areas in which it operates, and we also work proactively to have a positive impact on local communities, including running various social and charity programmes and infrastructure projects. Our corporate Policy on Charity, Sponsorship and Donations acts as a guideline for these activities, ensuring we have a unified approach in of all the regions where Polyus mines gold.

Polyus is committed to ICMM principles as an example of international industrial best practice. These principles include:

Principle 3: “Respect human rights and the interests, cultures, customs and values of employees and communities affected by our activities”.Polyus adopted its Human Rights Protection Policy in support of this principle.
Principle 9: “Pursue continual improvement in social performance and contribute to the social, economic and institutional development of host countries and communities”.

Polyus maintains open dialogue with all of its stakeholders to ensure that we operate with rigorous consideration for their rights and interests.

Contact with stakeholders

This includes establishing trust with people living close to our sites. From the earliest stages of our business activities in a particular region, we successfully take a number of engagement approaches, including:

Public hearings, consultations and meetings
Distributing information leaflets
Feedback via our 24h Hotline, anonymous post boxes at our business units and email

Following global best practices

Polyus fully complies with Russian legislations, but also assumes additional commitments in line with international best practices. The company has several additional standards which reflect its social role:

Our Resettlement Standard works to mitigate the consequences of relocating people and businesses. Currently, Polyus is not engaged in relocation projects, but such projects may potentially occur as new mineral deposits are explored and developed.
Our Standard for Engagement with Indigenous Peoples was developed to regulate potential situations in which the company’s business could affect indigenous peoples and their land.

Our five key areas for charity and sponsorship:

Education and science
Sports and healthy lifestyle
Culture and art
Supporting society’s vulnerable groups
Environmental stewardship

Education & Science

We actively support educational and scientific projects.

In cooperation with schools, colleges and universities, Polyus runs general education programs as well as certain industry-focused courses.

Polyus supports geology lessons in schools, where students focus on mining-related disciplines and visit mine sites. Our geology-based learning initiatives help to nurture students’ interests to our industry, and support them as they take their final school exams. Many of the students who benefit from our support in these instances go on to pursue relevant degree courses at higher education institutions.

Sports & Healthy lifestyle

We regularly hold sporting events for company employees, their family members and anyone local to the regions in which we operate.

At the same time, Polyus is working to develop sports infrastructure by building new, and upgrading old, sports facilities.

We actively promote a healthy lifestyle among our employees and support local sports clubs and teams, facilitating their participation in tournaments and competitions.

Another important area of our social investment lies in developing infrastructure for children’s recreation through financing repairs and upgrades of summer camps in our regions of operation.

Polyus regularly allocates funds towards the refurbishment of regional medical facilities.

Culture & Art

Supporting cultural projects is a key part of our contribution to local development in the regions in which we operate.

Polyus held its sixth annual Golden Season in 2021, a competition where local theatre companies can win donated funding from the Company. A record total of 37 theatres entered, and the 7 best will receive a combined RUB 6 million.

In 2021, Polyus Verninskoye helped to organize a production of Little Red Riding Hood with a modern twist for local children. The performance was sold out at the Bodaibo Cultural and Leisure Center.

The Company opened an exhibition dedicated to the Lifestyle of the Indigenous Peoples of the North at the Polyus Aldan office. Polyus is proud to support the unique traditions and customs of indigenous people living throughout Russia.

Following the destruction caused to the local community by a series of wildfires in the Yakutia region, Polyus donated RUB 5 million in emergency funding to help the victims and ensure that emergency services were able to continue to fight the fires.

Additionally, we regularly sponsor children’s performance groups, enabling them to evolve and participate in Russia’s largest international contests and festivals.

At Polyus, we ensure that we pay close attention to the creation and restoration of green areas, as well as urban development initiatives in certain regions.

Supporting vulnerable groups

In our work with local communities, Polyus places particular importance on supporting the most vulnerable groups of our society.

This primarily includes senior citizens, children from low-income and difficult backgrounds, orphans and children with disabilities.

Polyus regularly sponsors the provision of school and sports uniforms, school supplies and textbooks for children from difficult backgrounds. During school holidays, the company provides financial support to enable children to attend recreation centres and holiday camps.