Social policy

Development of local communities

In 2025, the Company’s social spending amounted to RUB 20.8 billion (according to the consolidated financial statements), including charitable expenses of RUB 13.1 billion and accruals and changes in estimates of liabilities under social programmes of RUB 7.7 Provision for future expenses. billion (expenses).

Nornickel is playing an important role in the Russian economy and has a strong impact on the social and economic life in its operating regions. With its enterprises located mostly in single‑industry towns, Nornickel seeks to foster a favourable social climate and create a comfortable urban environment, providing its employees and their family members with ample opportunities for self‑fulfilment.

The harsh climate faced by Nornickel employees in life and at work, the remoteness of the Company’s key industrial facilities, and the increasing competition for human capital across the industry call for a highly effective social policy that would promote Nornickel’s reputation as an employer of choice.

Nornickel fosters partnership relations with local communities in all its regions of operation and actively participates in developing and implementing social programmes.

Norilsk renovation

One of the most important ways to attract and retain employees is to improve the quality of life in Norilsk and the wider Norilsk region. In 2021, Nornickel signed a quadripartite agreement with federal and regional authorities on renovating Norilsk’s housing and social infrastructure. Valid until 2035, the agreement envisages project investments of RUB 120 billion, with RUB 81 billion to be contributed by the Company.

Under the project, a master plan for Norilsk’s development was approved, a social and economic development programme until 2035 was developed for the city, and a housing stock renovation programme was launched. The programme also includes the construction and overhaul of social infrastructure facilities as well as area improvements and the modernisation of utilities and transport infrastructure.

Clean Norilsk

In 2021, the Company launched the  Clean Norilsk programme for cleaning and recycling industrial waste in the Norilsk Industrial District and land reclamation, including cleaning and beautification of public spaces, protection of water bodies, and the enhancement of local holiday camps.

On a 10‑year horizon, the programme envisages dismantling over 500 abandoned buildings and cleaning away 600 kt of illegal dumping and 2.0 mln t of waste. In 2021–2025, a total of 442 buildings were dismantled, and 1.3 mln t of waste was removed, with 100 kt of scrap metal sent for recycling.

Youth programmes

Add Colours to Your Town

For 13 years running, the Company has been holding the annual Add Colours to Your Town art contest for children and young people living in Norilsk and Monchegorsk to engage them in the creative transformation of their cities, foster place attachment, and build a vision of their future intertwined with where they live. Apart from providing a springboard for art projects, the contest encourages responsible attitudes towards the environment and sustainable use of resources. Over 45 murals were created at the Company’s facilities as well as at urban infrastructure sites.

Career guidance for school students

At the beginning of each school year, the Company provides over 5 thousand first‑graders with A Book on How Metals Helped Build Cities. The book tells about metals and mining jobs and production processes, fosters a feeling of pride for Nornickel among children, and helps them relate to what Nornickel does, as well as promotes scientific knowledge and makes science more attractive. Company employees run Nornickel Lessons on Knowledge Day, where children are given books and learn about the Company and its operations, as well as the importance of the metals produced by Nornickel.

People of the Territory charitable programme

More than a decade ago, Nornickel developed its own approach to philanthropy and introduced a straightforward framework accessible to a broad target audience. The World of New Opportunities programme has fostered a proactive approach among local residents to addressing social issues across the Company’s host regions, met local needs in its early years, and provided an effective response to the challenges of the time.

Over the course of the World of New Opportunities programme, the Company has helped create a supportive environment for regional development and fostered a culture of giving and community engagement among active citizens.

In 2025, Nornickel strengthened its charitable and volunteer activities by consolidating its flagship initiatives (the World of New Opportunities charitable programme and the Plant of Goodness employee volunteering programme) into the People of the Territory large‑scale social capital programme.

As such, the People of the Territory programme serves as a starting point for social development across the Company’s operating regions and the core of its social development ecosystem. The programme’s new portfolio covers the following tracks:

• Volunteers – developing skills and capabilities to support community initiatives, including employee volunteering
• Creators – developing the Company’s host regions and local communities
• Inventors – unlocking R&D and engineering potential and supporting inventiveness, including the IMAKE initiative
• Entrepreneurs – developing the skills of both aspiring and established entrepreneurs.

Volunteers

Volunteering is an important component of employees’ social well‑being and a tool for developing human capital. It forms part of HR management efforts aimed at enhancing employee engagement in social impact, fostering horizontal linkages, shaping a culture of giving and volunteering, developing communication and emotional skills, creating opportunities for every employee to realise their personal potential, and building stakeholder partnerships.

In 2025, around 4 thousand Company employees as well as members of non‑profit organisations and community action groups participated in the programme, with more than 250 volunteer activities delivered. Nornickel volunteers take part in international and national forums and expert platforms as participants, speakers, moderators, and experts.

Employees actively involved in volunteering at Nornickel often go on to initiate their own projects. The skills they acquire through this experience help them both in everyday life and in developing soft skills and advancing on their career paths.

In 2025, more than 4 thousand employee volunteers and local residents took part in community initiatives, over 40 partners were engaged, and around 250 volunteer activities were delivered as part of the Plant of Goodness programme.

Let’s Do It environmental drive

The Let’s Do It environmental drive, held annually since 2016, is the Company’s flagship project within its environmental agenda. In 2025, the drive ran under the slogan “Let’s Do It: People of the Territory” and focused on six tracks: Scientific Volunteering, Conservation Volunteers, Volunteer Educators, Animal Welfare Volunteers (animal shelters and support for stray animals), Infrastructure and Urban Environment/Greening, and EcoArt. In 2025, the drive brought together 1,503 volunteers across 173 teams.

In 2025, with support from the Company’s environmental specialists, more than 10 expeditions were organised for 40 volunteers involved in the Scientific Volunteering and Conservation Volunteers tracks, across three nature reserves and one national park. Participants support scientists by conducting wildlife surveys, studying ecosystems, setting up conifer nurseries, and assisting European bison nurseries and reintroduction centres for rare species with their programmes.

Charity fair

Volunteers in the City, a New Year charity fair, has been held annually by Nornickel volunteers since 2019 and has become a valued tradition. Everyone is invited to take part, including Company employees, their family members, and partners and friends of the employee volunteering programme. In 2025, over RUB 1 million was raised through such donations, and Nornickel matched the amount. All proceeds go to charity.

Creators

Projects and activities are implemented through an ecosystem of related elements: education – expert community – support for initiatives. A systematic approach to engaging local communities drives lasting impact: stronger capabilities, adoption of new social technologies, support for community initiatives as well as rolling out successful practices across national and regional expert community platforms.

Youth forum

The SVET ON 2025 youth forum was a large‑scale event held across the Group’s host regions in spring 2025 as the Company’s strategic communications and educational project to connect with young people across its operating regions. Delivered as part of the events marking Nornickel’s 90th anniversary, it also served as a standalone platform for engagement, development, and dialogue with younger generations.

More than 4.7 thousand young people took part in the forum’s activities in person. The project involved 102 partners, including local organisations, business people from the creative, manufacturing, and other industries, across the forum’s four key tracks. SVET ON’s distinguishing feature has been its geography: the forum took place simultaneously in several localities – Norilsk, Chita, Monchegorsk, Zapolyarny, and Nikel.

Socially Responsible Initiatives Competition

To support community initiatives that help create conditions for the sustainable development of the regions where it operates, the Company holds the annual Socially Responsible Initiatives Competition.

In January 2025, the Company announced support for 117 social‑impact initiatives proposed by 92 organisations across its operating regions.

In September 2025, the next Socially Responsible Initiatives Competition was launched, attracting over 300 initiatives, ranging from ideas to improve the urban environment to inspiring proposals aimed at fostering environmental awareness. Experts selected 188 finalists and, following the expert panel’s decision, 133 of the strongest projects were awarded grants totalling RUB 155 million. The results were announced on 12 January 2026, and the projects will run until spring 2027.

World of Taimyr project competition

To deliver certain activities within the five‑year Programme under the Agreement with Indigenous Peoples of the North, the Company organised and held the World of Taimyr social project competition for the first time in 2025.

The competition is primarily designed to support community initiatives seeking to address local challenges related to preserving the culture, way of life, and traditions of indigenous peoples of Taimyr, as well as to create an environment for the sustainable development of territories historically inhabited by indigenous minorities. Of the competition’s four focus areas, the Taimyr’s Ideas category proved the most popular, covering the revival of cultural heritage, support for gifted children, and the development of indigenous sports. Following the competition, 12 projects received support totalling RUB 43 million.

Peremena: Change Starts with You education project

In 2025, the Company continued its Peremena: Change Starts with You education project, launched in 2019 at the social technologies forum. The project aims to bring together all parties involved in the education process: children, parents, and teachers.

In 2025, four in‑person modules were delivered, reaching 1,194 participants. Activities across all modules was structured around the project’s four focus areas:

• PEREMENA.EDU – an educational programme for school staff teams
• PEREMENA.TEEN – a comprehensive programme focused on life orientation and building students’ psychological maturity
• PEREMENA.TEAM – a programme aimed at developing practical skills for parents
• PEREMENA.CLUB – a programme for university students.

Inventors

IMAKE engineering marathon

The key idea behind the IMAKE marathon is to create conditions for supporting and promoting engineering developments and projects, fostering the scientific and creative potential of children and teenagers, and building a community of aspiring engineers and scientists. The project helps build a framework for engaging children in research and inventiveness, stimulating their interest and motivation to pursue this path.

In 2025, the project’s main objective – holding all stages of IMAKE – was fully achieved. The season was marked by major challenges, new formats and programme tracks, outstanding achievements, breakthrough ideas, and, as always, a warm and supportive atmosphere.

In April 2025, the national final of the IMAKE inventors’ competition in Moscow brought together winners from regional events, with 23 school students presenting their inventions. Alongside the project demonstrations, the final event also included an awards ceremony recognising the project’s most active participants. At the end of the season, makers, mentors, and even entire inventor families received awards in categories such as Breakthrough of the Season, Discovery of the Season, Creator of the Season, Engineer of the Season, Mentor of the Season, Teacher of the Season, and others.

IMAKE inventors were also actively involved in community life in their regions: they took part in industrial tours, delivered engineering and environmental master classes, participated in every citywide science and engineering event held in their communities, attended conferences, and presented their projects at various competitions and accelerator programmes. In addition, the makers visited some of the country’s leading innovation centres, including Skoltech, the Atom pavilion at VDNH, a career guidance centre in Moscow, and the Ocean Russian Children’s Centre.

In autumn 2025, IMAKE days and intensive sessions were held, during which school students took their first steps in invention, met each other and their teachers, and tried their hand at different project tracks. In 2025, almost 4 thousand young inventors took their first steps in the project through IMAKE day activities.

In December, four IMAKE teams from Norilsk and Monchegorsk returned from the PowerTech international design engineers competition with gold and silver awards.

A key milestone of the season was the addition of 25 mentors to the organising team, including project alumni who are now university students or staff at engineering and children’s centres across the country.

Entrepreneurs

The Entrepreneurs track helps build a supportive and sustainable ecosystem for small and medium‑sized enterprises across the Company’s host regions.

Since 2014, the Company has been running support programmes for small businesses across its footprint. During this period, more than 30 interest‑free loans totalling over RUB 140 million were made in Norilsk. Over the years, the training programme has targeted both established and aspiring entrepreneurs, members of non‑profit organisations, as well as high school and university students.

In 2025, participants in the In Good Company corporate youth programme joined the initiative. Overall, the training supported the development of 43 projects aimed at expanding existing businesses and launching start‑ups in areas such as local tourism, catering, sports, work with children, repairs and construction, and other consumer services. Nineteen projects progressed to investment rounds, with 10 of them receiving interest‑free loans in 2025.

Dialogue with indigenous peoples

Nornickel’s engagement with indigenous peoples living on the Taimyr Peninsula and in the Murmansk Region is based on recognising the right of indigenous communities to determine their own development priorities, and on respect for their customs, traditions, and culture. The dialogue is ongoing, spans all areas of mutual interest, and takes a comprehensive approach. Nornickel’s metals and mining‑ assets are located outside ancestral lands of indigenous peoples.

The key principles of Nornickel’s engagement with indigenous peoples are set out in the  Policy approved by the Company’s Board of Directors in 2024.

The Company’s voluntary commitments towards the indigenous peoples are formalised by agreements and minutes of meetings with representatives of indigenous communities. For example, in 2020, the Company, together with representatives of indigenous peoples, developed a five‑year programme to support traditional economic activities and improve living conditions on the Taimyr Peninsula. The programme included the construction of housing, social and infrastructure facilities, as well as measures to support traditional nature use, with a funding of RUB 2 billion. Over the five‑year period, the programme significantly strengthened the Company’s engagement practices with indigenous peoples and laid the groundwork for the further sustainable development of communities.

In 2025, the programme was completed, delivering the following results:

• 33 houses were built in the settlements of Volochanka and Ust‑Avam
• 21 apartments were purchased for orphans from among indigenous peoples
• Five health posts were built in various settlements
• 58 major initiatives were implemented under the World of Taimyr grant competition
• A visitor centre was built in the Ust‑Avam settlement
• Jointly with scientific organizations, the Company conducted research to support the development of the traditional nature use.

In 2025, Nornickel continued its structured support for indigenous peoples in an updated format: the Coordination Council’s activities were extended to the Lovozersky Municipal District of the Murmansk Region and, alongside ongoing infrastructure projects, greater emphasis was placed on strengthening the self‑reliance of indigenous peoples. This includes the People of the Territory programme, its World of Taimyr competition, and the Socially Responsible Initiatives Competition in the Murmansk Region, through which the Company supports social projects aimed at the sustainable development of indigenous peoples and, as a rule, developed by them.

The Company also continued to implement measures to support indigenous peoples, address local issues related to the preservation of their culture, way of life, and traditions, and foster the sustainable development of their traditional territories. During the reporting period, the Company arranged and funded additional air, river, and road services to and from remote settlements and fishing points for the transportation of food supplies and agricultural products to Dudinka and Norilsk; financed repairs to the exterior of the cultural and leisure centre in Khatanga; provided internet access to ten educational institutions in Taimyr; and commissioned two new health points in the settlements of Popigay and Khantayskoye Ozero.

In addition to the above activities, in 2025, under an agreement with the Russian Federal Agency for Ethnic Affairs (the “FAEA of Russia”), the Company financed projects supporting indigenous peoples, including expert workshops, a monitoring study, and an annual report on engagement between indigenous peoples and business. The Company continues to support the all‑Russian Social Diplomacy Programme for indigenous peoples, which is run by MGIMO University of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs together with the Federal Agency for Ethnic Affairs.

The total amount of funding allocated by the Company in 2025 to charitable projects supporting engagement with indigenous peoples came to about RUB 118 million.

The 2025 results confirm that the Company’s approach to engagement with indigenous peoples, combining strategic planning, infrastructure investment, and partnership, is aligned with international standards, delivers sustainable results, and contributes to territorial development.