Sustainable Fitch Assigns Qazaqstan Investment Corporation an ESG Rating

Sustainable Fitch has assigned Qazaqstan Investment Corporation (subsidiary of Baiterek National Holding JSC, QIC) an ESG Entity Rating of ‘3’ and an entity score of 59.

The company’s ESG rating is driven by the sustainable development focus of its business, broad integration of ESG considerations across its investment and operating activities, and good corporate governance profile.

QIC is a fund of funds for private equity funds, with the mandate of promoting Kazakhstan’s sustainable economic development. It has a notable share of renewable energy project financing, accounting for 9% of its total investments and loans at end-2022.

Sustainable Fitch scoring also reflects the KZT63.3 billion share of SME financing, accounting for 35% of its total exposure. 39 projects from 54 investments in QIC equity portfolio include SMEs, which contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals 8 (decent work and economic growth) and 9 (industry, innovation and infrastructure), and which increases SMEs’ access to funding.

The company’s operational environmental profile benefits from the enhanced environmental footprint disclosure, which currently covers Scopes 1, 2 and 3 emissions as well as electricity, thermal energy and water consumption, some of which demonstrates a positive trend in the last three years.

QIC’s operating profile also shows good gender diversity in the workforce, independence of the internal audit and supervisory function, and good risk management.

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Qazaqstan Investment Corporation JSC is a fund of private equity funds created to promote the sustainable development of the national economy. Our activities are aimed at forming private equity infrastructure in Kazakhstan, attracting foreign investment in priority sectors of the economy, using leading international experience and transferring innovative knowledge and technologies to private equity.

Sustainable Fitch's ESG Ratings offer a global solution to assess Environmental, Social and Governance performance of all asset classes at an entity, framework and instrument level, helping the ESG financial community make better, informed decisions. It has developed a modular analysis framework, enabling it to provide a Second Party Opinion (SPO) and a monitored suite of ESG Ratings including Entity Rating, Framework Rating and Instrument Rating.

ESG Ratings indicate an entity’s performance, commitment, and integration of environmental and social considerations into its business, strategy and management, and the effectiveness of governance. The ratings are provided on a scale of ‘1’ to ‘5’, with ‘1’ being best and ‘5’ the worst.