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 for long-term social initiatives implemented by reputable specialist foundations and non-profit organizations. The Executive Board approves the list of projects to be funded based on recommendations of the Charity Policy Committee on an annual basis.

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. By working with partner non-profit organizations, the Exchange ensures that the funds impact a large number of people in need while also ensuring transparency of expenditures. In 2018, the Group’s charity expenses amounted to RUB 27.5 mln.

In selecting new projects or deciding whether to continue funding existing projects, the Exchange applies the following criteria:

• The project’s ability to address a socially significant problem in Russia;
• Measurable assessment of the project’s impact;
• Opportunity for Moscow Exchange employees to take part in the project.

Support of Educational Programs

In 2018, as part of the Exchange’s continued cooperation with the New Teacher Charity Foundation for Education Support and Development that began in 2016, it allocated RUB 3 mln to support the Teacher for Russia program, which is a Russian project that sends talented young people and graduates of Russia’s leading higher education institutions to teach in public schools. The program is designed to provide access to quality education for children from areas with a challenging social environment, to raise the prestige of the teaching profession amongst top Russian graduates/attract talented teachers to the school system, to spur the transformation of ordinary public schools and to introduce new educational formats and technologies. At present, the program involves 170 teachers.

The Exchange’s donations fund 10 mathematics and economics teachers from the Tambov, Voronezh, Kaluga and Novgorod regions with curriculum support and scholarships.

The Exchange allocated RUB 4.2 mln to support the Nikitsky Club of scientists and entrepreneurs. The club is intended to be an interdisciplinary forum for members of the professional community with a broad social view to discuss critical issues facing Russia and help society identify the country’s interests and adequate policy responses to various issues.

Aid for Children

Since 2014, the Exchange has partnered with the Gift of Life Foundation, which focuses on helping children with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses. In 2018, the Exchange allocated RUB 3.5 mln to support the foundation’s most important program — Voluntary Donation — which encourages citizens to donate enough blood to hospitals.

In 2018, NSD allocated over RUB 1.2 mln to the charitable foundations Touching the Heart (Dmitry Malikov’s foundation), Strana Chudes and BELA Butterfly Children’s Fund to purchase medicine, dressings, high-tech hearing aids and to pay for physical therapy for children.

NSD’s financial support of RUB 300,000 to Our Children Foundation assisted 35 orphan children from the Shatalovsky orphanage and Safonovsky school for orphans, as well as seven camp counselors and three coordinators who took part in a summer sports and fitness program, «Holidays with a Cause». As part of aid provided to Sheredar charitable foundation (RUB 586,000), eight children who were cancer patients were able to receive two courses of cancer treatment each.

In 2018, NSD continued financing the Danilovtsy volunteer movement and donated RUB 300,000. Volunteers organized events for cancer patients at the Rogachev Children’s Hematology Center, Burdenko Neurosurgery Institute and Russian Children’s Clinical Hospital.

NSD also paid the salary (RUB 235,000) a teacher of the junior remedial class at the Elizavetinsky orphanage for six months. RUB 93,000 was donated to the Sozidanie charitable foundation to cover assistance to children with hearing impairments. RUB 65,000 was donated to the Udelninsky center of out-of-school activities at which orphan children reside; the funds went toward the purchase of toy building kits Maxiclastic and Fanclastic as well as sound equipment for a vocal studio.

Aid for the terminally ill and their families

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

In 2018, the Exchange donated RUB 3.5 mln 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 2018, the Exchange donated RUB 200,000 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 73rd anniversary of the victory in World War II, Moscow Exchange Group provided financial assistance to veterans: one-time payments were received by 89 World War II veterans and disabled soldiers, home front workers, siege survivors and prisoners of concentration camps. The donations totaled RUB 5.2 mln.

In addition, in 2018 NSD rendered financial support of RUB 80,000 to the Duet Wheelchair Dance Club that allowed the group to participate in the Russian Wheelchair Dancing Championship.

Corporate volunteer program

Moscow Exchange employees have the opportunity to take part in charitable activities by volunteering or donating funds. 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 2018, the Group’s offices hosted Donor Days (in total, 123 employees donated blood) and charity fairs. The events were supported by the Blood Service and Gift of Life charitable foundation. The Group also organized campaigns to raise funds for the treatment of children suffering from cancer. Total funds donated by employees in all campaigns exceeded RUB 111,000 and were allocated to the Gift of Life foundation.