OREANDA-NEWS. August 31, 2010. At the beginning of August, Lenta LLC has adopted a code of ethics, formally called the “Ethics Policy and Code of Corporate Ethics” which was created jointly over several months with the assistance of the firm’s internal legal and human resources departments. It has been approved by the Board of Directors and recently signed into force by Lenta’s Interim General Director, Sergei Yuschenko.

“The adoption of such a code demonstrates the determination of Lenta LLC to tackle corruption head-on. I am confident that this battle will continue regardless of who will be leading the company in the future,” announced Sergei Yuschenko, the Interim General Director of Lenta.

Lenta’s Code of Ethics is an internal document which regulates how company employees work and interact with suppliers, contractors and also with government officials. The Code of Ethics, for example, forbids employees of Lenta and members of their family from accepting or making payments such as in instances of gift giving, being the recipient of services, bribes or other awards for personal gain or the gain of Lenta, in addition, they are not able to accept gifts in excess of 5000 rubles (approximately USD166). Besides this, the Code of Ethics explicitly states how to deal in various situations with those the company has a contractual arrangement and also with government officials.

At Lenta a new position, Head of Corporate Ethics, has been created to address this situation in the company and is being filled by the company’s current Legal Director, Fedor Ivanukovich. “If such a situation should arise whereby corruption is suspected and alleged, it will be fully investigated. We will review the actions of both our employee and the other party. If we find someone guilty of such actions, the measures we will take will vary to fit the offense. This can include a strong reprimand, dismissal from the company, or the information can be turned over to law enforcement officers which can even lead to criminal charges,” explained Fedor Ivanukovich, Head of Corporate Ethics at Lenta.

“Besides this,” according to Ivanukovich, “in the event that a Lenta employee is found to be at fault, the company is fully prepared to compensate the other party for the amount of the loss that they occurred due to the Lenta employee in question.”