Moscow Exchange's Sustainability Sector goes live

On 12 November 2019, Moscow Exchange’s Sustainability Sector welcomed its first instrument – a green bond issued by Center-invest Bank.  

The RUB 250 mln one-year bond will be offered on 15 November. The funds raised will be used to finance and refinance outstanding loans given to promote energy-saving initiatives, renewable energy sources and green transport.

The bond issue is compliant with the Green Bond Principles 2018 of International Capital Market Association (ICMA) and CIB’s own Environmental and Social Policy of the bank, according to RAEX-Europe’s Second Opinion.

Anna Kuznetsova, Managing Director of MOEX’s Securities Market, said: "More and more investors are incorporating ESG considerations into their decision making, and companies in worldwide in their turn are making greater efforts to attract interest from these investors. MOEX’s Sustainability Sector helps promote issuers seeking special-purpose financing on the public market to implement environmental and social initiatives. We are delighted to welcome the first issuer on the Sustainability Sector, and are looking forward to seeing new members benefiting from improving their investment case with MOEX."

Updates to the Moscow Exchange Listing Rules that took effect on 12 August 2019 have created a Sustainability Sector for financing environmental and social sustainability projects. The new sector consists of three independent segments: green bonds, social bonds and national projects. To be admitted, an issuer must establish the specific purpose of their offering in the prospectus, report bona fide use of the funds on an annual basis, and submit an external review confirming that the bond complies with standards for green or social issuance. This is in line with the concept currently developed for green, social and sustainability bonds by the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, relevant government agencies, the Bank of Russia and the business community.