Transparency International: ESO – the most transparent company

Energijos Skirstymo Operatorius (ESO) is one of the most transparent companies in Lithuania, Transparency International Lithuanian branch (TILS) has announced.

Transparency International assessed three key criteria - anti-corruption measures of the company, its organizational transparency and financial disclosure. Data were assessed by comparing domestic companies both nationally and in the context of international standards. According to TILS, ESO received the maximum score of 100%, and compared to similar evaluations carried out in previous years, it improved the indicator by more than 20%.

“It is undoubtedly a pleasure to receive such an appraisal for our efforts to continually improve our performance in such important areas as integrity, organizational or financial transparency and the prevention of corruption. Openness is one of the core values and principles of our activities. We strive to be open not only in paper promises, but also in daily actions in all activities of the organization – this is an important part of our internal culture that each ESO employee creates every day”, says Mindaugas Keizeris, CEO of ESO. 

ESO seeks to maintain close relationships with investors and to provide them with access to information on the company’s financial performance, submits and continuously updates financial statements, and ensures the implementation of requirements of shareholders as well as transparency requirements of the stock exchange.

Advocating for fair and transparent business, ESO is intolerant to any form of corruption. All ESO’s employees are subject to this principle of operations: new colleagues have training on these topics and take tests, while employees who have been with ESO longer receive periodic trainings. The same principle applies to our partners - contractors.

“We greatly appreciate public engagement and encourage reporting possible signs of non-transparent practices, corruption and other inappropriate acts of ESO partners or employees. Various channels for providing information of such nature have been set up, including a toll-free phone line, e-mail or a ready-made formon ESO’s website eso.lt. We guarantee the anonymity of reporting persons”, says Jonas Šneideraitis, Head of Prevention Department at ESO.

Anti-corruption policy has been implemented across the Ignitis Group, whose part ESO is. The directions of responsible business of ESO have also been defined by the principles provided for in the United Nations Global Compact. The purpose of the document based on the ten principles of the United Nations Global Compact is to encourage domestic companies to operate to the highest ethical standards.

ESO has been engaged in the Association for Responsible Business of Lithuania, which shares its experience and good practice. Taking part in activities of the Association, ESO actively contributed to the development of the "Anti-Corruption Guide for Business" initiated by the Special Investigation Service prepared in cooperation by the public and private sectors.

Currently, the Anti-Corruption Management System is being implemented in the Ignitis Group. ESO also plans to use process automation and roboticization tools. Anti-corruption, educational activities will be actively promoted in the future, contributing to social initiatives and sharing best practices with colleagues in anti-corruption activities.