Principles of CSR and ESG in Russia: the case of leading institutional actors

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) agenda, and the principles of sustainable development have emerged as pivotal components of managerial discourse and practice among Russian corporations. Historically, major Russian enterprises have strategically leveraged global CSR and ESG frameworks to enhance their international market positioning, attract foreign investment, and reconfigure environmental, social, and labor relations in alignment with globally recognized sustainability standards. Concurrently, institutional actors – key centers of expertise in CSR and ESG – faced profound challenges in navigating this transformed landscape. The evolution of CSR in the Russian context under the dual pressures of sanctions and deglobalization are examined, analyzing the adaptive trajectories of leading institutional actors, such as specialized committees within the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP), the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation (CCI), and the Russian Managers Association (RMA). The study provides a critical review of international scholarship on CSR and ESG agendas, foregrounding theoretical and empirical critiques of their universalist claims and hegemonic implications. The Russian case is studied on the basis of original research to interrogate how CSR and ESG frameworks are being reconfigured amid geopolitical and economic ruptures. Introducing a novel analytical perspective, the article applies a decolonial critique to examine CSR and ESG awareness in Russia, emphasizing the role of institutional actors in shaping expert knowledge and discursive practices in this domain. Furthermore, the CSR discourse has been co-opted by public administration systems, which increasingly channel corporate social investments – framed as compliance with CSR and ESG imperatives – toward state-prioritized social and infrastructural programs. This article contributes to debates on the geopoliticization of CSR and ESG, offering insights into how non-Western contexts negotiate global sustainability paradigms under conditions of economic decoupling. It underscores the contested nature of CSR as both a tool of corporate legitimacy and a site of ideological struggle, particularly in states navigating post-globalization realities. By foregrounding the agency of institutional actors and the adaptive resilience of CSR frameworks, the study advances understanding of how localized discourses of responsibility emerge in response to systemic disruptions.