SSA.L Regulatory News (SSA)

Sistema adopts responsible investment approach

Moscow, 21 December 2020 - Sistema PJSFC (hereinafter, "Sistema" or "the Corporation") (LSE: SSA; MOEX: AFKS), a publicly-traded diversified holding company, announces that its Board of Directors has approved an updated set of investment criteria as part of a review of the Corporation's strategy. Among other things, the revised criteria will integrate ESG factors that reflect Sistema's corporate responsibility principles and international ESG standards into the investment process for the first time, solidifying Sistema's strategic approach to responsible investment.

At the portfolio building stage, Sistema excludes "sin stocks" (such as tobacco, gambling and others) and will consider the ESG profile of acquisition targets in other industries when making investment decisions. To that end, the Corporation will evaluate targets' governance systems and environmental and social performance as part of due diligence process.

At the asset management stage, the Corporation establishes baseline requirements for sustainability management in portfolio companies, and actively engages with them to improve their risk management practices, ESG performance and reporting.

Artyom Zasursky, Sistema's Vice President for Strategy and Development, said:

"As a major investor in the Russian economy, we see our role in nurturing responsible, competitive, and self-sustaining businesses. The integration of ESG principles into our business model is the logical next step. Amid market uncertainty and changing business needs, we are aiming to enhance the sustainability of our investment portfolio through the management of non-financial risks and the implementation of best practices in the areas of corporate governance, social and environmental responsibility".

Earlier, Sistema signed an agreement with Sberbank to open a RUB 10 billion framework credit line, with the option to tie the interest rate on each loan to sustainability performance (Sustainability Improvement Loan). The integration of responsible investment principles into the investment process is one of the KPIs set by the agreement. For more details see https://sistema.com/sustainable-development.

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Sistema PJSFC is a publicly-traded diversified Russian holding company serving over 150 million customers in the sectors of telecommunications, high technology, banking, retail, timber processing, agriculture, real estate, tourism and healthcare services. The company was founded in 1993. Its revenue in 2019 reached RUB 656.9bn; its total assets equalled RUB 1.3tn as of 31 December 2019. Sistema's global depositary receipts are listed under the "SSA" ticker on the London Stock Exchange. Sistema's ordinary shares are listed under the "AFKS" ticker on the Moscow Exchange. Website www.sistema.ru.

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