People of the Territory charitable programme
Goal: implement social projects through an ecosystem of related elements: education – expert community – support for initiatives
The SVET ON 2025 youth forum was a large-scale event held across the
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 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.
As in previous years, participants from Norilsk and Taimyr submitted the largest number of projects in 2025. Among the winners, projects focused on youth engagement stand out; for example, one such project, A Look Inside: A Careers Workshop, will introduce teenagers to different professions through podcasts. Preserving cultural identity remains a key priority in Taimyr. The winning initiatives here include city festivals, youth groups, and educational programmes, such as the Ancestral Language Is the Future of Taimyr project, which aims to rekindle younger people’s interest in the native languages of indigenous minorities through the use of multimedia.
In the Murmansk Region, the most common themes are sport, youth engagement, culture, and new leisure activities.
In the Trans-Baikal Territory, most of the finalist projects focus on the development of children and teenagers through creativity, education, and social support.
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.
In 2025, the Company continued its Peremena: Change Starts with You educational 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.
Four in-person modules were delivered in 2025, structured around four focus areas:
Goal: support inventiveness and unlock the engineering potential of young people
The IMAKE Inventors League is a community of young engineers and scientists residing in the regions where Nornickel operates. The Company runs the annual Engineering Marathon, which includes training intensives, courses, treasure hunts, and project schools. 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.
Two sessions of the IMAKE Camp took place in early 2025. School students developed their engineering skills, learned to visualise and prototype inventions, work with ideas, and engage with target audiences.
In addition to team-building offsite events, IMAKE inventors also joined industrial tours and visited innovation hubs across the country, delivered engineering and environmental master classes, participated in citywide science and engineering events held in their communities, attended conferences, and presented their projects at competitions and accelerator programmes.
In December 2025, four IMAKE Inventors League teams won top prizes and awards in the PowerTech 2025 international competition for young design engineers.
Goal: help build a supportive and sustainable ecosystem for small and medium-sized enterprises in the Company’s regions of operation.
The initiative’s goal is to develop the skills of both aspiring and established entrepreneurs, as well as to provide financial, organisational, and advisory support for entrepreneurship initiatives across Russian regions.
The accelerator programme consists of educational modules that include lectures, practical assignments mentored by experts and consultants, as well as meetings with successful entrepreneurs and potential investors. Both aspiring and established entrepreneurs undergo training together to facilitate experience sharing. Since 2024, young employees of Nornickel have also participated in the project under the Business track of the In Good Company corporate programme.
In 2025, over 270 people applied, including 200 from the In Good Company programme. Every participant can apply for interest-free loans to support their project, expand their current businesses, or initiate new projects. Projects are selected through an annual pitch session. The expert panel, composed of representatives from Nornickel, major entrepreneurs, and civic associations, decides on the best initiatives. In the 2025 session, 19 projects were presented, with 10 selected as winners. The projects covered a wide range of areas, from snowmobile rentals to establishing a 3D-printing studio.
Goal: promote a corporate volunteering culture to support social-impact initiatives
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 volunteering, environmental education, support for stray animals and animal shelters, urban greening, and EcoArt (a fusion of ecology and art). For instance, with support from the Company’s environmental specialists, more than 10 expeditions were organised for 40 volunteers across three nature reserves and one national park. Volunteers supported scientists by conducting wildlife surveys, studying ecosystems, setting up conifer nurseries, and assisting a European bison nursery and reintroduction centres for rare species with their programmes.
Since 2019, Nornickel has regularly held a New Year charity fair. Volunteers hand-make unique items (candles, soap, perfume, New Year-themed souvenirs, etc.), and anyone can purchase the item they fancy either online by participating in an auction or at sales held in the Company’s host cities.
Nornickel employees can take part in a personal donation programme that supports people in challenging life situations and contribute to ongoing campaigns run by charitable organisations and foundations. Personal donations can be made through the intranet portal directly from employee workstations. In addition, special donation boxes are available at all Nornickel facilities. All funds raised through these boxes are matched by the Company.
In 2025, the fifth annual volunteer convention, Siberian Perspective: Volunteers, took place in Krasnoyarsk. The event was organised by Nornickel with support from the Protected Areas Embassy charitable foundation. Over 100 employee volunteers from major companies discussed volunteer practices and prospects, as well as the role of employee volunteers in biodiversity conservation. Volunteers also participated in the area improvement efforts at the Bobrovy Log Fun Park and the Krasnoyarsk Pillars National Park.