A Country Learns New Concepts

摘要

Social responsibility and corporate governance are terms heard frequently in the European Union, as consumers are increasingly concerned by the consequences of the production of what they wear, eat, drink, drive or the energy that they consume. The leading use for coal is power generation and Russian coal is warming up not only Russia, but also Japan, Turkey, and many European countries. In the Kuzbass Basin, Siberia, some companies are now attempting to produce quality coal, while taking care of the people mining it and paying increasing attention to the environment. The coal company Kuzbassrazrezugol employs 28,000. With an average of five people per family, this makes more than 100,000 people from Kemerovo directly dependant on the company. During April 2004, the Kemerovo regional government and Kuzbassrazrezugol signed an agreement concerning social economic cooperation. According to the agreement, investments should be directed both toward the company's development and the Kemerovo region's social programs. The region's Governor, Annan G. Tuleev, is inclined to force mining companies into respecting their duties toward environmental and social protection. He has a legitimate objective to encourage the local oligarchs to transfer increasing amounts of money earned through the mining activities to the development of the region which provides the precious resources.