Russian Corporate Giants Get Mixed Review From Transparency International

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – October 18, 2013) Russian companies have been handed middling ratings in an appraisal of 100 companies from 16 emerging markets released by Transparency International.

Including six Russian companies ­ metal giants RusAl, Norilsk Nikel Evraz and Severstal, together with energy majors Gazprom and LUKoil ­ on three separate scores, the survey, which was released on Wednesday, placed Russia in the middle of its BRICS peers in a headline comparison of overall corporate performance.

Russia’s six representatives earned a 43 percent rating. India’s 20 companies led with 54 percent, while the 33 Chinese companies assessed garnered the lowest overall score: 20 percent.

On the single score of organizational transparency, which evaluates disclosure of corporate holdings, aluminum producer RusAl emerged as an international winner, with a perfect 100 percent rating. It became the only Russian company that made the “top performers” list of the survey, sharing its perfect organizational transparency rating with UAE’s Emirates Airlines, China’s Johnson Electric and Shanghai Electric, and Malaysia’s Petronas. The average score in the category was 54 percent.

RusAl and metals giant Evraz also fared well in the corruption reporting category, which covers anti-bribery programs, whistleblower protection and political contributions. Each received a 69 percent score, compared to the survey’s average of 46 percent. The top spots were all taken by Indian companies, earning 92 percent each.

On the country-by-country transparency score, which evaluates disclosure of international operations, mining and metals company Norilsk Nikel outstripped both Evraz and RusAl, garnering 30 percent, compared to Evraz’s 21 percent and RusAl’s 17 percent.

All three performed well above the average score of 9 percent for this category, but still fell behind the best performer, Chilean retailer Falabella, which was given 50 percent, followed by Lupin Limited, with 38 percent.

In anti-corruption reporting, Russia earned third place, with 54 percent, compared to South Africa’s top score of 79 percent and China’s lower mark of 28 percent.

In organizational transparency, Russia scored 64 percent, compared to South Africa’s 71 percent and China’s 31 percent.

In country-by-country transparency, Russia advanced to second place, receiving 12 percent, compared to India’s 29 percent and China’s 1 percent.