OREANDA-NEWS. On 13 May 2009 was announced, that SCM priorities in the area of CSR are first of all to maintain jobs at SCM Group companies and implement programs on health and safety and contribute to further social and economic development of Ukraine.

The information was reported by the SCM's Director of International and Investor Regions, Mr. Jock Mendoza-Wilson, in his speech at the third International Conference on CSR "Corporate Social Responsibility. Global challenges and national decisions", which took place in Kyiv Hotel "Premier Palace". Expert Ukraine, the leading business edition, was the initiator of the event.

This year the key subject of the conference was impact of the global downturn on implementation of principles of corporate social responsibility. Participants of the event, which included representatives of national and international businesses, government, charity organizations, international NGOs and expert community, received a possibility to share their experience in implementation of CSR principles at the time of global cooling of the economy and to discuss the most pressing issues of this area.

Speakers at the conference were representatives of business, Ukrainian and international NGOs, including: John Wiser, partner-co-founder of Brody, Weiser&Burns, Dieter Knoll, President of Henkel Ukraine, Tobias Webb, Director of Ethical Corporation Institute, Oleg Sysuyev, First Deputy Chairman of the Alfa Bank Board of Directors, Kolman Kaff, Managing Director of Starbucks, Olga Alekseyeva, Director of CAF Global Trustees, Michael Green, economist, co-author of Filantrocapitalism, Igor Chernov, Director of Central and Territory Department of MTS and others.

At the conference Mr Mendoza-Wilson made a presentation "CSR: Current needs and long-term perspectives". In his presentation he talked about SCM Group priorities in the CSR area in this time of recession and about the SCM Group projects for 2009, SCM approaches to non-financial statements and SCM Group achievements in the area of CSR.

"Today we, as a responsible business, take all possible actions to maintain employment and ensure social guarantees to our employees and stability in the regions of SCM Group presence", stated Mr. Mendoza-Wilson. "In addition, we do not lose sight of our long-term objectives in corporate responsibility which is to improve the health and safety performance, to improve our environmental performance and to invest in Ukraine’s social and economic development.

SCM’s goal is to continue to be a leader in corporate responsibility in Ukraine and to build a business which is sustainable in the long run in terms of the employment opportunities it offers, communities it is part of and by reducing over time its impact on the environment. In the short run we need to be ready to be flexible and adapt to the changing external environment. However, we must do it in the sight of our long-term strategy and following all the principles and standards of corporate social responsibility", noted Mr. Mendoza-Wilson.