The charity program is carried out in accordance with the Company’s charity Policy, which was approved by the Executive Board of Moscow Exchange on 6 September 2012. The Group’s charitable activities prioritize financial support of long-term social initiatives through specialist foundations. The Executive Board annually approves the list of projects based on recommendations of the Charity Policy Committee.

Moscow Exchange focuses its charitable initiatives on the following key areas:

• development, education and medical treatment of children;
• aid to those injured in catastrophes and natural disasters;
• support for veterans and the elderly.

The Exchange does not support organizations that discriminate based on gender, sexual orientation or nationality.

The Exchange does not, directly or indirectly, finance organizations whose activities are in any way associated with human rights violations or manufacturing and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and it does not take part in projects that carry risks of environmental pollution.

The Group cooperates with several reputable charitable foundations, which receive the bulk of its charity allocations. Mediation by partner non-profit organizations ensures that help reaches a large number of people in need while also guaranteeing transparency of expenditures. In 2017, the Group’s charity expenses amounted to RUB 29.9 mn.

Support of Educational Programs

Aid for Children

Starting in 2014, the Exchange has partnered with the Gift of Life foundation, which focuses on helping children with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses. In 2017, the Exchange allocated RUB 7 mn to support the foundation’s most important program – Voluntary Donation, which makes sure people donate enough blood to hospitals.

In 2017, NSD allocated over RUB 2 mn to Touching the Heart (Dmitry Malikov’s foundation), Strana Chudes and Radost Detstva to purchase medicines, high-tech hearing aids, a wheelchair, a commode chair and therapy for children.

The Group continued to implement a joint long-term project with Our Children Foundation running an integrative educational summer camp for children who live in social institutions and in families. In 2017, thanks to NSD’s donation of around RUB 1 mn, ten children participated in the program. They went to the town of Kabardinka where they took part in master classes and psychological workshops helping to develop communication skills and to foster independence and responsibility in decision-making. Additionally, a group of children aged 7 to 17 who had suffered serious diseases enjoyed a stay at the Sheredar recreation and rehabilitation center.

In 2017, NSD continued financing the Danilovtsy volunteer movement and donated RUB 385,900. Volunteers organized events for cancer patients at the Rogachev Children’s Hematology Center, Burdenko Neurosurgery Institute and Russian Children’s Clinical Hospital.

Aid for the Terminally Ill and Their Families

In order to foster the development of hospice care in Russia, the Exchange works with Vera Charity Foundation, which supports over 20 hospices in Moscow and the Russian regions.

In 2017, the Exchange donated RUB 6 mn to programs and activities aimed at providing material, medical and social aid to families with terminally ill children, hospices for children and adults and regional healthcare establishments that render palliative care, as well as to the state-run Moscow Full-Service Palliative Care Centre of the Moscow Department of Health.

Rehabilitation after Stroke

Since 2014, the Exchange has cooperated with ORBI, the first and only foundation for combating stroke. The two organizations work to raise awareness of stroke prevention measures and to help stroke survivors get back to their normal lives, which also takes a financial burden off the government.

In 2017, the Exchange donated RUB 0.5 mn to help people who had suffered a stroke and their families. The funds were distributed between two programs:

• creation of occupational therapy simulation rooms at medical facilities engaged in rehabilitating patients with acute cerebrovascular diseases;
• organization of the Together Against Stroke campaign that aims to raise public awareness of stroke prevention and to foster healthy lifestyles.

Support for Veterans and the Disabled

In honor of the 72nd anniversary of the victory in World War II, the Group provided financial aid to veterans: one-time payments were received by 119 World War II veterans and disabled soldiers, home front workers, siege survivors and prisoners of concentration camps. The total amount of payments amounted to RUB 6.2 mn.

NSD donated RUB 266.8 thousand to the Starost v Radost foundation to cover the wage of a nurse at a housing facility for the elderly.

In addition, in 2017 NSD rendered financial support of RUB 300,000 to the Duet Wheelchair Dance Club for the purpose of organizing the Open Moscow Cup and the Melody of Summer wheelchair dancing festival.

Corporate Volunteer Program

Exchange employees have the opportunity to take part in charitable activities by volunteering or making a donation. Announcements of socially significant activities are included in the daily Company News morning newsletter, and reports and photo essays about events are posted on the Corporate Philanthropy intranet page, where employees can also register to participate in volunteer events or make a donation, as well as advertise alternative charitable projects. In 2017, the Group’s offices hosted Donor Days (132 employees donated blood) and charity fairs. The events were supported by the Blood Service, Gift of Life and Volunteers Helping Orphans. The Group also organized campaigns to raise funds for the treatment of children suffering from cancer and the rare skin disease epidermolysis bullosa. Total funds donated by employees in all campaigns exceeded RUB 310,000 and were allocated to the Gift of Life and BELA Butterfly Children charitable foundations.