Compliance

We want to be a company that complies with all applicable Russian laws in our business activities.
Through our Legal, Compliance, and Internal Control departments, we regularly monitor Russian laws. As a result, any newly enacted or amended laws and regulations that come to our attention are promptly addressed by notifying both management and the relevant business units.
Since July 2016, we have operated an internal reporting system as a tool for anonymous whistleblowing, and we regularly encourage all employees, including new hires, to use the system.
Since August 2017 to date, YRPZ has been working to strengthen its compliance training. To this end, the legal department provides all employees with monthly compliance case studies.

There have been no instances of human rights violations in the Company's activities. In terms of recruitment and employment conditions, all employees are treated equally regardless of nationality, ethnicity, religion, gender, age, or physical appearance.

The company has been conducting its activity in line with the following priorities which are of great importance to us: safety (S), environment (E), quality (Q), delivery (D), and cost (C).

Labor safety

Safety (S) is the highest-priority item. We are constantly striving, through the measures outlined below, to maintain and improve the safety standards on an ongoing basis.

YRPZ continued to keep its near-miss reporting procedures in FY2024. During the year, 8,253 near-miss reports were submitted by employees. Corrective or preventive actions were initiated for 8,222 of these reports.

Disaster response safety measures

In 2024, the company conducted appropriate activities to enhance safety in relation to disaster prevention.

YRPZ continues to provide fire safety training for all employees and conducts regular fire drills. In 2024 YRPZ held 2 fire drills: in June 2024 (313 employees took part) and in October 2024 (297 employees took part).

Promoting health

Employee wellness plays an important role in ensuring safety. We conduct preventive monitoring by regularly checking the health of our employees and conducting health checkups at the time of hire and periodically thereafter. Records of medical examinations are kept in a medical facility on the premises of YRPZ.
Voluntary Medical Insurance (VMI) is not mandatory under Russian law, but YRPZ continues to offer it to all employees.
YRPZ's VMI program continues to be the best among industrial companies in Lipetsk Oblast in terms of coverage and content.
VMI allows employees to receive prompt, quality medical care and a better chance of recovery.

In FY2024, YRPZ kept improving VMI, including continued support for YRPZ employees, expansion of coverage and clinic list, clinic audits, and employee satisfaction surveys and subsequent remediation measures.

Education and training

In order to improve the professional skills and knowledge of our employees, we offer a variety of internal and external training programs.
Training conducted within the company is mainly related to occupational safety and health.
Training conducted externally is aimed at professionalizing and upgrading the know-how and skills of employees, and in many cases, with the cooperation of consulting companies, external instructors are used.
In addition, special allowances are provided to those who demonstrate a certain level of English proficiency.

Employment of people with disabilities

As of the end of December 2024, there are 7 persons with disabilities working at YRPZ as full-time employees.
Each of them can receive medical care without discrimination and has the same opportunities for self-development, promotion, and advancement as other employees.

Motivation and engagement

In order to improve the motivation and engagement level of employees, YRPZ implemented a number of tangible and intangible incentive measures and activities in FY2024, namely:

• YRPZ continued its tradition of birthday parties: in FY2024 every employee received a branded blanket.
• All employees who have school-aged children received a set of school stationery before the beginning of the school year (September 2024).
• Employees who joined the company in 2014 (53 persons) celebrated their 10th anniversary and were presented with valuable gifts from the company.
• All employees and their children under 14 years old received seasonal NY gifts.
• Special allowance for coaching and mentoring was provided. Additional payments were made for mentoring and coaching subordinates and developing practical skills.
• Communication via internal Telegram channel contributed a lot to improving the internal climate of YRPZ.
• Trips to health improvement camps were provided to employees’ children (on co-financing basis – YRPZ paid 50% of the trip cost per child).
• Health Day timed to gender holidays was held in February 2024 in the territory of the plant. Healthy drinks and snacks were offered to all employees the company.
• MVP Contest was held in the beginning of the year to encourage employees who reached great success in specific activities.

Environmental management

In addition to safety (S), the environment (E) is also an important issue, and YRPZ complies with all Russian laws and regulations related to the environment. Furthermore, we spare no effort to be an environmentally friendly company.
In our daily operations, we keep abreast of the country's environmental laws and regulations and strive to comply with any revisions.
Our ISO 14001:2015 certification is still valid until December 26, 2025.

Environmental data

• FY: January to December
• Greenhouse gas emissions from overseas business sites are calculated using the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Initiative and electricity emission factors of local businesses. It should be noted that 41% of the company’s gas emissions were used for the purposes of heating.

Measures for dealing with industrial waste

Disposal of industrial waste is strictly regulated by the Russian authorities. All waste generated by the YRPZ plant, of whatever type, is disposed of appropriately by certified waste disposal contractors.
Total waste generated in FY2024 was 923.17 tons.
The amount of waste generated per tire produced was 0.12 kg/tire.
In FY2024 25,112 kg of paper and cardboard were sent to recycling.

Disposal of used tires

Under the provisions of Regulation dd. 09.04.2016 No. 284 issued by the Government of the Russian Federation, which establishes the responsibility of manufacturers and importers for certain products, including automotive tires, as these are considered assets that leave the hands of the consumer (become used products) YPRZ is responsible for taking action to ensure that these are disposed of in accordance with the regulations.
Specifically, we offer two options to manufacturers and importers of such products. They can either pay environmental fees according to a tariff set by the government, or they can make guaranteed arrangements for the disposal of their products, either on their own or by joining a union of waste disposal companies.
In 2024 YRPZ had contracts with recyclers for the joint recycling of used tires, as a member of the Eco-Tyres Union (a union of tire manufacturers and importers who voluntarily act in accordance with the recycling standards set for tires and rubber products).

Tire marking

In compliance with the Russian law (Order of the Russian Government dd. 31.12.2019 No. 1958), which is intended to combat illegal tire production and distribution, YRPZ maintains obligatory tire marking by means of placing a sticker label bearing an individual DM-code (Data Matrix code) to every tire produced. The code contains true information about place, date and time of tire production, which proves the tire had been produced legally.

Reducing water usage

YRPZ is constantly striving to reduce water usage through the implementation of a number of measures.
In 2024, total water consumption was 42,803 m³.
In order to reduce water consumption we focused on prevention of water, steam and air leakage by timely replacement of equipment spacer plates, arms and hoses.

Managing wastewater discharge

Wastewater discharged from YRPZ's plant facilities is properly treated in a reliable manner prior to discharge into the sewage system.
In 2024 the following measures were implemented to prevent wastewater contamination.

• Sampling to control chemical composition of wastewater: conducted monthly and quarterly.
• Sewer cleansing: done monthly.
• Cleaning of the grease collector was done in July and November.
• Water collection and decontamination after cleaning equipment and floors.

Energy savings

We recognize the importance of energy efficiency, and we are continuing our concerted efforts to make our energy usage more efficient. In particular, in fiscal 2024 we implemented the following energy-saving measures:

• To reduce energy consumption we also switched off lighting devices during breaks at work, at areas out of use, and when work is finished.
• We also turned off unused devices and main power supply.
• Lighting devices were replaced at the mixing process in May and June.

Biodiversity measures

Green Wave 2024 activities were held with participation of pupils of Lipetsk school. Besides tree-planting (7 seedlings of rowan and bird cherry) the pupils had a biodiversity panel discussion and a plant tour of YRPZ.

Internal controls

To prevent fraud, operations are carried out based on an internal approval system by management for contracts, purchases, and settlements. Furthermore, internal rules have been established, and the final decision is made by the final decision maker after checking by the management, legal, and accounting staff.

Selection of business partners

Concerning raw material procurement from new Russian domestic suppliers, we work to handle matters fairly while cooperating with the procurement department of Yokohama Rubber.
When selecting suppliers, we make sure to verify the compliance and reliability of potential suppliers, in order to avoid doing business with firms that are untrustworthy or which are engaged in illegal behavior. To this end, we implement documentary review and enterprise evaluation surveys in advance. As a result, in the period since YRPZ plant began operation, there have been no instances of signing contracts with suppliers that turned out to be unreliable or engaged in illegal activity.

Quality management systems

In FY2024 we continued our efforts to improve our quality management.
In April 2024 YRPZ successfully passed the surveillance audits for ISO 9001:2015.

Strengthening communication with consumers

Based on cooperation with LLC Yokohama Russia, which has direct contact with consumers as a sales company, we are working hard to gain evaluative information of products from the marketplace as well as to establish relations of trust with consumers.

Internal activities

On an ongoing basis, the company shall continue to take care in fostering team spirit and a sense of loyalty among employees.

Team-building corporate events

In 2024, YRPZ held a number of offline motivation activities for employees in addition to online activities through our internal Telegram channel.
In June 2024, YRPZ held the big corporate event for employees and their families “Yokohama Family Fest 2024” aimed at raising employees’ team spirit, satisfaction, engagement and loyalty.
In December 2024, YRPZ held the winter corporate event “Yokohama Family Ice Fest” at the ice rink. Employees’ family members were also invited to the event. This event included the spectacular ice show and then the mass skating.
The positive feedback was received from the employees and their families after these corporate events.

Sports activities

In fiscal year 2024, YRPZ continued the new sports tradition: the second YRPZ soccer tournament “Yokohama Cup 2024” was held in May. 5 soccer teams representing YRPZ subdivisions competed for the Champion’s title.
Besides soccer, which has been YRPZ main corporate sports since 2011, YRPZ employees also played volleyball on a regular basis.
Free soccer and volleyball trainings were arranged for all employees throughout the year.
In 2024 YRPZ expanded the scope of sports activities in order to cover employees’ interests and needs at the most.
The employees went skating together with family members, participated in the kart racing tournament and the quiz (intellectual game).
In 2024 YRPZ also took part in the online challenge held by SEZ Lipetsk. Two teams represented YRPZ in the challenge and did different sports exercises for 3 weeks. One of YRPZ teams won the step challenge by taking 347 896 steps. It was the best result among 20 teams representing different SEZ companies.
Our soccer team also participated in the Bekaert Soccer Cup 2024.
In 2024 our soccer team participated in the Soccer League Championships (winter, summer and autumn seasons). Volleyball team played several friendly games with volleyball teams of SEZ “Lipetsk” and showed impressive results in 2024.

External activities (Social contribution)

In 2024 YRPZ continued to participate in the Russian environmental and charity project "Dobrye Kryshechki" ("Kind caps").
In this project caps from plastic bottles are collected and recycled, and the money earned is donated to disabled children.
The project has two goals: to rid the world of plastic waste and to support children with disabilities.
In 2024 we donated 4 sets of summer tires to the non-commercial fund “Children and parents against cancer” for charity reasons.
In 2024 we donated 100 kits to prevent traffic accidents involving injury to children to the Gryazy kindergarten. These kits are intended for daily wear by children to ensure increased visibility in low light conditions.
In 2024 we also supported Lipetsk Society of Disabled Persons: we provided 10 sweet NY presents for disabled children. At the same time, YRPZ employees collected 43940 rubles and bought NY presents for 25 disabled children according to their wishlist.
In 2024 YRPZ joined tree-planting activities initiated by SEZ “Lipetsk” with participation of the SEZ companies’ managers.

In 2024 we continued focusing on strengthening HR-brand of YRPZ and implemented a number of activities for potential employees: students and pupils.
To that end YRPZ repeatedly held plant tours for students and pupils and arranged introductory presentations about tire-making and work at YRPZ.
In April 2024 YRPZ CSR&HR team met a group of students of the local university with a career-guidance visit. During the presentation, discussion and Q&A session the students got comprehensive information about the work at YRPZ, and some students showed willingness to join YRPZ after graduation.
In Nov. 2024 YRPZ also met 4 groups of students from different colleges as part of the career-guidance visit to the Career centre & meeting.