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Abstract
Examining the oil and gas industry in the Russian Arctic, this article investigates the gap between corporate social responsibility (CSR) as articulated in corporate offices and implemented at the local level. In Russia, global CSR norms interact with weak formal institutions and the strong informal expectations of state officials and local communities that companies bear responsibility for welfare and infrastructure. As a result, the concept of citizens as ‘stakeholders’ is underdeveloped. Instead, local residents remain subjects within a neo-paternalist system of governance that mimics some elements of the Soviet past. Compensation for damages to indigenous peoples has blurred legal obligations and the voluntary nature of CSR. However, the CSR in the region is constantly developing and formal methods of compensation may assist in clarifying the scope and practice of CSR.
Notes
* This research was supported by the Swedish Institute (‘The Interdisciplinary Network for Studying Company–Community Relations in Resource Extracting Sectors in Russia and Sweden’, 2011–2012), the Finnish Academy Arctic Program (‘Oil Production Networks in the Russian Arctic’, No. 286791), the National Council for Eurasian and East European Research (‘National Interests and Transnational Governance: Russia’s Changing Environmental Policy’, No. 827-06), the NWO, the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research, Arctic Program (‘Developing benefit sharing standards in the Arctic’, No. 866.15.203).
1 ‘Corporate Social Responsibility: Meeting Changing Expectations’, World Business Council for Sustainable Development, available at: http://www.wbcsd.org/pages/edocument/edocumentdetails.aspx?id=82&nosearchcontextkey=true, accessed 19 August 2016.
2 ‘ISO 26000 and the International Integrated Reporting <IR> Framework Briefing Summary’, International Organization for Standardization, 2015, available at: http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_26000_and_ir_international_integrated_reporting_en_-_lr.pdf, accessed 20 August 2016.
3 For an overview of theoretical approaches to CSR, see Garriga and Mele (Citation2004).
4 The Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative is a relatively new organisation that attempts to track revenue from natural resource industries in order to combat corruption (see http://eiti.org/eiti). The Equitable Origin certification scheme is still in the early stages of its development (see http://www.equitableorigin.com/home/).
5 See also Verdery (Citation1996, pp. 24–5), Stammler and Forbes (Citation2006, p. 52).
6 ‘Polar Lights’, Rosneft, 2015, available at: http://www.rosneft.com/Upstream/ProductionAndDevelopment/timano-pechora/polar_lights/, accessed 15 May 2015.
7 ‘Rosneft Selling Stake in ConocoPhillips Joint Venture’, Moscow Times, 12 February 2014; ‘ConocoPhillips Sells its Stake in Rosneft’s Polar Lights JV’, TASS, 1 August 2014.
8 The NAO is allowed to make such agreements due to its status as an autonomous okrug.
9 Interviews with villagers in May–June 2011.
10 Interview with director of the municipality, Village C, 7 June 2011. At the time of interviewing, 30,000 rubles equalled approximately $1,000 per month. This, however, is only the basic salary without any of the additional payments and benefits which make working for the oil companies highly attractive.
11 For a similar problem in the Yamalo-Nenets region, see Stammler and Forbes (Citation2006, p. 50).
12 Interview with a local newspaper editor, Village C, 12 June 2011.
13 Interview with a representative of Narianmarneftegaz, 13 June 2011.
14 Interview with a Yasavei representative, 28 May 2011.
15 Interview with the NAO vice-governor, 4 April 2014.
16 Interview with a cultural worker, Village C, 11 June 2011.
17 Interview with reindeer herder 1, Village C, 10 June 2011.
18 Interview with a representative of the Department of Natural Resources and Ecology, 7 April 2015.
19 Interview with the leader of a reindeer herding brigade, 11 June 2011.
20 Interview with an adviser to NAO governor, 1 June 2011.
21 Interview with an adviser to NAO governor, 1 June 2011.
22 See Appendix 2 for a list of the laws and decrees referenced in this article.
23 The weakening of ecological impact assessment occurred under the Federal Law on Changing the Urban Construction Code of the RF and Certain Laws of the FR (2006).
24 Lawyer of the Northern Lights company, Usinsk, 25 February 2015.
25 Representative of the administration of the Polar region, 9 June 2011.
26 Interview with the director of Izemsko Olenevod, Sizyabsk, 5 March 2015.
27 Interview with the representative of RusVietpetro, Usinsk, 2 March 2015.
28 Interview with the director of reindeer herding enterprise Kolguev, 8 April 2014.
29 Interview with Lukoil-Komi manager, 25 February 2015.
30 Participant observation, Ardalin; see also Kumpula et al. (Citation2011, p. 559).
31 Interview with reindeer herder 2, Village B, 5 June 2011.
32 Interview with reindeer herder 1, Village B, 5 June 2011.
33 Interview with representatives of reindeer herder cooperative 1, Village A, 30 May 2011.
34 Interview with a retired person, Village A, 4 June 2011.
35 Interview with a representative of reindeer herder cooperative 1, Village A, 30 May 2011.
36 Interview with a school director, Village A, 4 June 2011.
37 Interview with a representative of a reindeer cooperative, Village C, 12 June 2011.
38 Interview with a representative of a reindeer cooperative, Village C, 12 June 2011.
39 Interview with a representative of reindeer cooperative, Village C, 12 June 2011.
40 Interview with a representative of the Polar Lights company, 30 May 2011.
41 Interview with a deputy director of the Department of Natural Resources, 1 June 2011.
42 Interview with retired person 1, Village C, 7 June 2011.