The Implementation of Corporate Governance Standards in Large Russian Companies

The best corporate governance practices, summarized in the form of international standards, serve as a means to increase the effective management of major corporations. Presently, the Principles of Corporate Governance by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD Principles) are considered to be the universally accepted standard. The article analyzes the implementation of the OECD Principles in some major Russian companies. For analysis, the assessment methodology of the corporate governance quality proposed by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) is used. Such papers as companies' charters, shareholders' meeting conclusions, annual reports, and the reports of the media on corporate events have served as the initial information base about the compliance with recommendations for corporate management. The quality of implementing corporate governance standards was comparatively assessed in eight Russian companies. The first (primary) level for the OECD Principles implementation is characterized by the implementation of 15 standards. Almost every company has already complied with these standards. The implementation of 24 standards was also verified that characterize the achievement of the company's second (advanced) corporate level. It turned out that only one company out of eight investigated fully implemented all standards of the first and second levels. Voluntary compliance with corporate governance standards makes the corporation more sustainable and investor-attractive that ultimately contributes to its development. Russian companies under study are still in the beginning of the international standards implementation in corporate governance practices. Only the primary level of standards implementation has been achieved that means that only mandatory requirements of applicable law are complied with. A lot of more advanced standards have already been used by companies. However, their complete implementation that allows to speak about the transition to a higher level of corporate governance has not been implemented yet.)