OREANDA-NEWS. May 24, 2011. Based on the evaluation of the data submitted by Latvian companies with respect to their 2010 activities in the area of sustainability and social responsibility, experts of the Sustainability index have ranked SEB Latvia among the top three sustainable companies in Latvia and awarded it a gold category rating, reported the press-centre of SEB.

In total, 50 participants were indexed this year, of which 16 companies were awarded bronze category ratings, 31 companies received silver category ratings, and only three of the participants - SEB, Aldaris (largest brewer and producer of refreshers) and SIA Latvija Statoil received gold category ratings in the sustainability index and became the first companies in Latvia to achieve this high rating.

The sustainability index competitors are evaluated for their performance in the following five sustainability areas: company profile, working environment, market relations, society, and environment. In Latvia, it is the second time that the sustainability index is carried out and the average index achieved by the companies this year was 53%, which is a 7% base point increase in one year and a fact that testifies to development and operational improvements made by the companies.

CEO of SEB Latvia Ainars Ozols: "The Latvian Sustainability Index, and the participation of SEB in it, is a significant initiative appreciated on the SEB Group level, as the index helps us to evaluate the initiatives that we are implementing in corporate governance, social responsibility, and the environment. I am truly content that the achievements of SEB Latvia over the past years, and last year in particular, were evaluated by the experts of the sustainability index as fitting for the gold category. There is an expression "the one who is serious about their future lives well and properly already today", and I frankly feel like attributing it also to SEB Latvia, as planning the company's activities over a long-term period requires great care both on the part of the management and employees. Our care for a better future allows us to experience a lot of positive feedback today, and we sincerely hope that our performance is a logical explanation to it."

Last year, SEB Latvia was awarded the silver category on the Sustainability Index. This year, we are among the top three companies in Latvia who were awarded the gold category, and we were the only bank in Latvia to be awarded this high category.
 
The initiators of the Sustainability Index are the Employers' Confederation of Latvia and the Free Trade Union Confederation of Latvia, as social partners of a national level that have engaged various sustainability experts. This is the only initiative of this sort in the world that unites representatives of the business and employee community. The activity is implemented under the ESF project "Practical application of employment relationships and normative acts on work safety in industries and companies".