OREANDA-NEWS. December 09, 2009. The Verkhovna Rada Committee on Industrial and Regulatory Policy and Entrepreneurship held hearings focused on the subject Social Responsibility of Business. Ukrainian Realities and Outlooks.

The event initiated by the UN office and the network of the Global Compact in Ukraine was attended by NGOs, government officials and businesses. Natalia Korolevskaya, Head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Industrial and Regulatory Policy and Entrepreneurship, and Ricarda Rieger, Country Director, United Nations Development Program (UNDP), addressed the delegates with welcoming speech. Besides, Thomas Dodd, CSR advisor for EC Directorate on Industry and Entrepreneurship; Aleksey Miroshnichenko, Vice-President of the Confederation of Ukrainian Employers; Adlai Goldberg, Partner, Ernst&Young; Max Alier, IMF Representative in Ukraine; as well as representatives of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine and other international and Ukrainian companies and corporations, MPs, diplomats and media also spoke at the meeting.

The participants discussed Ukrainian and global practices of CSR promotion as well as distinctions, challenges, trends and outlooks of introducing CSR standards in Ukraine in 2010.

SCM was represented at the meeting of Verkhovna Rada Committee by Jock Mendoza-Wilson, Director of International and Investor Relations, who is also the Chairman of the Steering Committee of the United Nations Global Compact Network in Ukraine.

Addressing the participants, Mr Mendoza-Wilson said: "Business, civil society, trade unions, working together under the umbrella of the Global Compact, have been at the forefront of developing a culture of corporate responsibility in Ukraine, and applying CSR values and practices to the development and implementation of the policies in these organizations. We hope that the parliament and government would also leave the sidelines of this debate and join us to imbed the concept of corporate and social responsibility in the nation’s development and in the process of government and in its legislative framework".

"CSR is paramount as a part of national social, economic and environmental strategy - social responsibility contributes to uniting stakeholders, who share a common agenda and a common set of values which can make a real difference", added Mr Mendoza-Wilson.