It’s Sustainability Index – a joint initiative by the Employers’ Confederation of Latvia and the Free Trade Union Confederation of Latvia – that has evaluated 50 companies and organisations in the country. Only three could claim a gold medal, while 31 companies won silver and 16 a bronze medal.
Sustainability Index evaluated companies in five areas: company profile, working environment, market relations, society, and environment. This is the second time that the review is carried out in Latvia and the average index achieved by the companies this year was 53 per cent, which is a 7 percentage point increase from last year. The strong gain testifies to development and operational improvements made by the companies.
Ainars Ozols, head of SEB in Latvia, says the bank’s participation in the review is a significant event.
“The index helps us to evaluate the initiatives that we are implementing in corporate governance, social responsibility, and the environment. I am truly pleased that the achievements of SEB in 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.”
Ozols quotes the expression “the one who is serious about their future lives well and properly already today”, and says it’s relevant attributing it also to SEB in 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,” Ozols says.
Last year, SEB was awarded a silver medal by the Sustainability Index. This year SEB was the only bank in Latvia to be awarded the gold medal.
