OREANDA-NEWS. December 24, 2014. Center-invest Bank has received a Public Recognition Award from the Krasnodar Krai Public Chamber for its contribution to increasing civic engagement and to the social and economic wellbeing of Krasnodar Krai.

Center-invest Bank’s growth is based not on speculative, immediate profits, but on long-term profitability in the interests of current and future generations. Established more than twenty years ago, the bank remains an industry leader, clearly demonstrating the viability and relevance of its chosen strategy.

Center-invest Bank’s products and services conform to international standards. Drawing on best international practice, the bank helps the local population, business community and government authorities find solutions to economic and social problems. Center-invest Bank is known as a reform laboratory in southern Russia for its ability to combine modern theoretical knowledge with practical solutions.

“Center-invest Bank’s performance shows that, even in a challenging investment climate, the transformational approach enables a bank to be socially and environmentally responsible, while also delivering operational efficiency and highly profitable risk management in accordance with Russian and international standards. It also provides for growth without assistance from the government or shareholders,” says Dr Vasily Vysokov, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Center-invest Bank. Dr Vysokov is also Chairman of the Commission for Economic Development, Enterprise and Innovation of the Rostov Region Public Chamber.

Center-invest Bank founded and continues to support the Endowment Fund for Education and Science in the Southern Federal District. For over twelve years now, the Fund has run a scholarship competition for undergraduate and postgraduate students studying at southern Russia’s leading higher education institutions. The annual scholarship fund is approximately RUB7m. This year, over 2000 students from the Rostov and Volgograd regions and Krasnodar Krai entered the competition. The 380 best applicants receive a scholarship of RUB20,000 and the chance to work as an intern at Center-invest Bank.

For schoolchildren, Center-invest Bank funds free entry to local studies and history museums in the Rostov and Volgograd regions and Krasnodar Krai. To date, over 80,000 schoolchildren have visited exhibitions free of charge.

In partnership with Southern Federal University, in April 2014 the bank opened a Financial Literacy Centre in Rostov-on-Don, where members of the general public can obtain free financial advice and improve their financial knowledge. The Centre helps individuals make sound decisions when taking out loans and dealing with other financial matters.

Center-invest Bank also provides free training in basic entrepreneurial principles and skills. In March 2013 the bank set up an online training portal: school.centrinvest.ru. The portal has been included in the Child and Youth Finance International (CYFI) online library. More than 9,500 people have registered for the course, and 2,450 users have already successfully completed it.

Indeed, supporting and developing entrepreneurship in southern Russia is one of Center-invest Bank’s priorities. The bank supports young entrepreneurs through its dedicated “Start-Up” and “Youth Business Russia” programmes. To date, over 320 new entrepreneurs in southern Russia have set up their own businesses together with Center-invest Bank. The bank has provided over RUB350m in finance under these programmes.

Center-invest Bank’s experience in localising sustainable banking products (for small business, energy efficiency, modernisation of the agricultural sector, managing the risks of retail lending, and increasing financial literacy) is already considered an example of best international practice.