Stakeholder engagement

To guarantee successful progress against all stages of human rights due diligence, we pay close attention to timely and efficient stakeholder engagement in a variety of formats, including preparation of materials, development of documents, awareness raising efforts (official website, mass media), training, personal meetings, public discussions, and report disclosures.

Stakeholder engagement is an ongoing process run by the Company to ensure timely and full recognition and consideration of all stakeholder interests and proposals, and respect for the rights of employees, shareholders, investors, business partners, local communities, indigenous peoples, Russian and international non-profit organisations. Nornickel puts a lot of effort into improving the quality of stakeholder relationships to build long-term mutually beneficial partnerships. As of today, the Company has not registered any grievances on disrespectful treatment of stakeholders.

The Company’s stakeholder engagement ethics, principles and procedures are set out in Nornickel's Business Ethics Code, Human Rights Policy, Community Engagement Policy, etc All of the Company's by-laws on human rights are available on its official website. . In 2021, Nornickel developed and approved its first ever Stakeholder Engagement Policy, which provides a description of engagement commitments, principles and management vertical. The Company also complies with international stakeholder engagement standards.

The Company identifies, classifies and analyses stakeholders in line with AA1000SES.

Pursuant to Nornickel's Stakeholder Engagement Policy, in 2022 the Company started drafting annual Stakeholder Engagement Plans, which include an assessment of stakeholder impacts and interests, description of potential risks, actions taken by the Company and their timing, responsible officers, and annual reports on engagement results. The Plan is drafted by stakeholder engagement functions at the level of the Head Office, the Group’s branches and Russian business units.

The Company develops and upgrades stakeholder engagement tools across its operations and geographies.

From the perspective of human rights, Nornickel places strong emphasis on its relationships with employees, local communities, indigenous peoples, suppliers and contractors, as these groups are particularly exposed to the Company’s impacts and exert material influence on the Company’s operations (for more details on the stakeholder map, interests and engagement tools, please see Nornickel’s 2022 Sustainability Report).

Employee engagement

In its interactions with employees, Nornickel seeks to respect all fundamental and labour rights, rights to safety, occupational health, freedom of association and collective bargaining, and healthy environment, as well as rights to the protection of family, maternity and childhood. To this end, the Company uses various tools for maintaining an open dialogue, and considering employee opinions and interests.

We have established social partnerships regulating labour relations as a key tool to build dialogue with our people. Moreover, the Company has in place offices for social and labour relations, a response centre and task forces at divisions (for more details, please see the Employee Right to Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining and Employee Right to Safety, Including Occupational Health and Safety section).

Nornickel continues to promote regular practices enhancing the dialogue between the Company’s senior management and employees. In 2022, we staged Nornickel Live, a Q&A session; spring corporate dialogues; awareness-raising campaigns, and other events.

The programmes enjoy unabated popularity among employees. The live stream with the Company’s vice presidents and the Corporate Dialogues were attended respectively by over 15,000 and around 3,000 employees who asked more than 5,000 questions.

Special attention is paid to the building of communications on the most important topics. For example, in 2022 we held eight large-scale awareness-raising campaigns, including those related to human rights (salary hikes, additional payments, increases in performance bonuses, introduction of new Cardinal Safety Rules, the Nornickel Will Help programme, pulse surveys on engagement, voluntary health insurance, Decide Together – Act Together and Let Everyone Be Heard initiatives).

The high quality of engagement in such programmes is ensured through both a multi-channel approach (use of in-house communications and mobile components) and training of multiple internal speakers. In 2022, we trained over 1,000 internal speakers to maintain a live contact and engage with employees.

Communication between managers and employees and an open information environment help build trust, alleviate stress and boost employee motivation as proved by regular employee engagement surveys, assessments of social programme efficiency, and target polls.

In building the Human Rights Due Diligence System, we interact with employees at all stages of the due diligence target model by holding consultations, updating information available on the website, providing services under the Corporate Trust Line.

Interaction with local communities and indigenous peoples

Nornickel maintains an active dialogue and strives to keep well-established relations with local communities and indigenous peoples. High-quality contacts enable the Company to effectively manage risks, respect rights, and unlock new opportunities for bringing sustainability principles into life.

Our relations are underpinned by strict compliance with Russian laws, regional and municipal regulations, respect for the opinion of indigenous peoples, and social responsibility.

One of the Company’s priorities is to ensure the sustainable development of regions by contributing to economic, social and environmental improvements and supporting the activities of local communities.

The key tools for interacting with local communities are dedicated development institutions, including the Norilsk Development Agency, the Second School Centre for community initiatives of the Pechengsky District, and the Monchegorsk Development Agency which aim to:

• promote the development of local communities by providing educational, informational, advisory, organisational and other types of support;
• draft proposals for municipal regulations with a view to creating favourable conditions for the development of local communities;
• create infrastructure and develop business activity hubs;
• provide assistance in promoting the brands and intellectual property products of local communities.

Other interaction tools include:

• Nornickel’s participation in working and expert groups, commissions, committees, and councils;
• discussion of development plans for regions of operation;
• corporate and partnership programmes and projects;
• forums, conferences, exhibitions, and round table discussions.

Nornickel regularly holds events, conducts target research, surveys, organises focus groups and open dialogues for engaging local communities into the Company’s operations.

One of the most essential procedures for protecting the rights of indigenous peoples is the procurement of the Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), with Nornickel pioneering the FPIC procedure in Russia’s Arctic zone in full compliance with international standards

As part of the efforts to build the Human Rights Due Diligence System through a comprehensive set of measures, including interviews, polls, and consultations with local communities and indigenous peoples, we are also upgrading the grievance mechanism.

Interaction with suppliers and contractors

Not only does Nornickel protect human rights throughout its organisation, but it also engages its suppliers and contractors in this process. The Company’s objective is to prevent and minimise human rights violations across the supply chain.

The human rights principles and commitments of Nornickel’s counterparties are set out in the Supplier Code of Conduct MMC Norilsk Nickel’s Supplier Code of Conduct is available on the Company's official website. and Responsible Sourcing Policy MMC Norilsk Nickel’s Responsible Sourcing Policy is available on the Company’s website. .

Recognising the risks of adverse human rights impacts and conflict associated with the extraction, trade, handling and export of raw materials from conflict-affected and high-risk areas, Nornickel will neither tolerate nor in any way assist with, contribute to, facilitate the commission by any party of or profit from any forms of human rights violations or abuses in its supply chains MMC Norilsk Nickel’s Responsible Sourcing Policy is available on the Company’s website. .

Key tools used by the Company to interact with suppliers and contractors in 2022 included:

• conferences, forums, exhibitions, in-person and online meetings;
• long-term agreements (contracts);
• supplier assessments and surveys;
• interaction through the Shipment Notice and SAP SRM portals (with over 10,000 suppliers registered in the system in 2022).

The key novelty in 2022 was the introduction of risk-based due diligence with a focus on suppliers of mineral resources

Security is a matter of particular concern in our dealings with suppliers and contractors. Pursuant to Nornickel’s Supplier Code of Conduct, suppliers are required to guarantee that any engagement of security providers is in line with the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights. The providers should stay in contact with representatives of relevant organisations to mitigate or eliminate the adverse impacts of their security arrangements at production sites. Any force deployed should be proportional to the threat.

Grievance policy

The Company provides a mechanism for all stakeholders to submit their grievances and reports on a wide range of issues, including human rights and freedoms. The grievances and reports can be submitted either anonymously or with the indication of contact details. The Company does not administrate any punishments or disciplinary actions and does not retaliate against the persons who voice their concerns.

Corporate Trust Line

The principal query and claim management tool is the Company’s Corporate Trust Line, which was established in 2010 to quickly respond to stakeholder concerns.

For every stakeholder wishing to make a report, toll-free channels are available 24/7: telephone, e-mail, or online form on the Company's website. The line handles reports on a wide range of matters related to violations of procedures and by-laws, including with respect to human rights, labour, production, social relations, etc.

The standard report handling procedure takes 21 working days from the registration of the report in the information system to review by a dedicated function and assessment of the response given. There is a different procedure in place for reports that require immediate action or additional investigation. If the report is found substantiated, a set of control measures is taken, and if a violation is confirmed, steps are taken to correct the situation, eliminate any negative consequences, and inform stakeholders.

In 2022, the Company began sorting human rights reports into a separate category. In 2022, we received five reports related to human rights and freedoms, with no abuses identified as a result of the report investigations. In addition to that, the Company reviews reports on labour and social relations, commercial and contractual activities, compliance with OHS requirements, etc.

Report statistics (broken down by Group company) are submitted to the units in charge on a quarterly basis. The efficiency of the Corporate Trust Line is assessed by the Vice President for Internal Control and Risk Management, the Board's Audit Committee and employees.

In late 2022, the Company prepared a draft update of the Corporate Trust Line Procedure, which sets out a procedure for informing applicants about the registration of their complaints or queries and the outcomes of the review upon the applicant’s request and where contact details are provided, and engaging independent experts in the review process, including upon the applicant’s request.

Grievance mechanism

The grievance mechanism is an additional corporate procedure geared primarily towards external stakeholders (residents in the regions of operation, suppliers and contractors, communities of indigenous peoples, etc.). Company employees and external stakeholders can use the existing channels for grievance purposes (telephone numbers, an online form on the Company's website or an e-mail, etc.).

The mechanism does not replace any existing statutory or corporate rights protection mechanisms.

The mechanism is geared towards pre-trial dispute resolution based on dialogue and mediation. It is not mandatory and does not limit the right to statutory remedies.

The grievance mechanism includes six stages.

Having discussed the grievance mechanism with stakeholders, the Company plans to upgrade this mechanism and improve the efficiency of stakeholder access to an independent expert review to obtain a full, credible, and objective third-party (independent) decision.