TMK: Compliance with ESG Principles a Condition for Maintaining Leadership
Pipe Metallurgical Company (TMK) consistently adheres to the principles of ESG – it implements environmentally friendly technologies, develops personnel and meets high standards of corporate governance – and considers these priorities to be a condition for maintaining leadership in the market. This was stated by Igor Pyshmintsev, Director for Research at TMK, Head of the Scientific and Technical Center (STC) of the company in Skolkovo, at the ESG- (P) Evolution congress.
Speaking at the session “A Scientific Look at ESG”, Igor Pyshmintsev noted that all the elements of ESG – sustainable development of technologies and business – were present in TMK’s activities even before this concept came into use.
“Over the past 15 years, we have transformed production technology, left open-hearth steel production and completely switched to steel smelting in electric arc furnaces. The result was a radical reduction in the specific load on the environment, an increase in productivity and a transition to a new level of product quality. This is how we prepared for import substitution, solved this problem, and today we are confidently competing in foreign markets. An important aspect of this work is that in order to obtain high-quality pipes, we mainly use scrap metal as raw materials, which minimizes the carbon footprint of our products, ”said Igor Pyshmintsev.
He noted that TMK is doing serious work in the social direction, developing human capital. The TMK2U Corporate University has created a multi-stage system for the development of employee competencies in the company, which, in addition to traditional educational functions, includes a competitive element. Thus, within the framework of the annual corporate forum Horizons, a Youth Scientific and Practical Conference is being held, where young specialists present the best innovative ideas of enterprises of the widest range – from purely technological to financial and environmental projects. The winners get a chance to implement and scale projects within the perimeter of the company.
“We are also fundamentally changing the image of metallurgy. A person should be comfortable in the company, his workplace should be different from the realities in which previous generations worked. Today a metallurgist is not a person with a shovel, but a specialist at a computer. We have transferred a large number of processes to the digital plane – the connection between science and business is obvious here, and this is the key to successful development. If a company has a conscious need to remain a leader, to secure these positions and competitiveness for the long term, then all ESG elements become indispensable in their daily work, ”noted Igor Pyshmintsev.
