Moscow, 01 June, 2022 – RUSAL, a leading global aluminium producer, publishes the annual Sustainability Report.

Following the strategy to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 (Net Zero), announced in February 2021, RUSAL has been setting priorities for further ESG business transformation throughout the past year.  The Company sees its strategic goal in creating a new asset class in the aluminium sector – assets that meet the needs of the low-carbon economy of the future.

Social aspect
The title theme of the Company’s 2021 report, “Human focus”, sounds particularly relevant today. In the turbulent economic conditions of the post-pandemic period, RUSAL pays special attention to preserving its human capital: ensuring safe working conditions and professional development, decent remuneration for employees and their quality of life in the regions where the Company’s enterprises operate.
For instance, during 2021, RUSAL has increased wages of Russian enterprises’ employees twice: at the beginning of the year, the increase ranged from 10 to 20% depending on the profession category; in September it amounted to another 10%. At the same time, the Company resumed a preferential housing program for employees of production units. According to the program, RUSAL covers the initial mortgage payment (10% of the housing cost), as well as 50% of the monthly payment. As at the end of the reporting year, 775 RUSAL team members took part in this program. The year 2021 was also marked by the launch of RUSAL online Corporate University (UNIVER), a unified digital platform that provides not only educational modules and materials to improve the skills of the Company’s workers, but also grants an access to projects designed to work with school pupils, students and graduates (such as “RUSAL for Russian schools”, “RUSAL Classes”, “RUSAL Laboratory”), as well as to the open vacancies.
Over 1.9 billion rubles were allocated in 2021 for the implementation of projects and activities under the program “Sustainable Development of Areas of Responsibility”. Moreover, RUSAL was included in the category A+ of the “Leaders in corporate philanthropy” rating, according to the results of an expert assessment of charitable programs and social investments of Russian business.

Environmental footprint reduction
In 2021 RUSAL opened the first phase of one of the world’s most technologically advanced aluminium smelters – Taishet aluminium smelter (TaAZ) in the Irkutsk region. The facility runs on clean energy, provided by Siberian hydropower. Thanks to cutting-edge gas cleaning equipment and a smelter-wide closed water circulation system, the refinery has the lowest possible environmental impact.
Furthermore, in 2021 RUSAL has announced an ecological modernization programme for the Krasnoyarsk, Bratsk, Irkutsk and Novokuznetsk aluminium smelters. The project is aimed at the fundamental reduction of the environmental footprint and the improvement of the quality of life in the cities where these facilities are located. Taishet smelter can be considered as an example of how RUSAL’s key aluminium smelters in Siberia will be renovated.
RUSAL is consistently working to reduce the industrial water discharge, as well as the emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. In 2021, the Company managed to reduce the volume of industrial wastewater discharge into the surface water bodies by almost a quarter (24.5%), the total amount of waste generated (excluding overburden) by 6.5%. Throughout 4 years of participation in the federal project “Clean Air”, RUSAL managed to achieve a reduction in emissions of priority pollutants by 9.7 thousand tons compared to 2018, which amounted to 40% of the target set for 2024. RUSAL announced the results of its contribution to the implementation of the federal project “Clean Air” in the first voluntary report on this topic following the results of 2021.
Greenhouse gas emissions in aluminium production (equivalent per ton of metal) as of the end of the reporting year decreased by 11.6% compared to the level of 2014. At the same time, sales of low-carbon aluminium under the ALLOW brand, grew by 44% over the past year and came close to 1 million tons. Thanks to the use of hydropower, the average carbon footprint of ALLOW products is 2.4 tons of CO2 equivalent per ton of aluminium (including direct and indirect energy emissions), while the global average amounts to about 12 tons.

Improving the quality of corporate governance
In 2021, RUSAL continued to conduct certification audits of its production assets in accordance with the standards of the International Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI). Throughout the year, such audits took place at four RUSAL assets – the Kandalaksha aluminium smelter, the Sayanal and Armenal aluminium foil plants (Armenia), as well as the largest alumina refinery in Europe, Aughinish (Ireland). Thus, the number of RUSAL sites cerified under the ASI standards has reached 13. 
Having committed to voluntary disclosure of information on greenhouse gas emissions in 2015, RUSAL confirmed its leadership position in the CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project), Climate rating in 2021, receiving A-, the highest rating in the aluminium sector. Adding to this, RUSAL was among the first producers to disclose sustainability related data in LME passport, the London Metal Exchange’s newly launched digital credentials register for LME-listed metals.
In 2021, RUSAL received a gold medal in the “Best Employers of Russia” rating and a silver medal in the prestigious EcoVadis sustainability rating: the Company again significantly improved its performance compared to the results of the previous audit and became one of 25% of the world’s best suppliers of raw materials and packaging materials and finished products.
In December 2021, RUSAL became one of the founders of the National ESG Alliance, created by 28 largest Russian corporations to facilitate the transition to a sustainable economic development model, dialogue and involvement of all stakeholders, the exchange of knowledge and experience, the development and promotion of new norms and standards in the field of ESG, as well as for investment support for breakthrough projects focused on ESG transformation.
“Geopolitical turbulence, with its obvious impact on the global economy, is imposing its conditions. However, we never lose sight of how vulnerable our planet is, and how vital our responsibilities are towards present and future generations. These ideas underpin our sustainability strategy”, said Evgenii Nikitin, General Director of RUSAL.
Andrey Sharonov, General Director of the National ESG Alliance, assessed the quality of the Company’s environmental, social and corporate governance: “Today, with the release of the new Sustainability Report, RUSAL continues, not in words, but in deeds, to confirm its commitment to the sustainable development agenda by implementing complex, large-scale internal transformation projects and taking an active part in shaping the national regulatory landscape in this area. RUSAL’s participation in the National ESG Alliance is very prestigious for the Alliance.”
Since 2007, RUSAL has been preparing and publishing sustainability reports in accordance with the standards of the Global Reporting Initiative and principles of the UN Global Compact. RUSAL’s 2021 Sustainability Report has been independently certified by the auditing company TSATR – Audit Services LLC.