Anti-corruption and bribery

Corruption and bribery are real challenges in many parts of the world and constitute an important obstacle to economic development in the countries where such practices are widespread. Moreover, these practices also constitute an obstacle to agreements being made in open competition and in an ethically and legally sound manner.

Policy

Verdo pursues a policy of zero tolerance for corruption and bribery. We operate across national borders, and our very clear anti-corruption and anti-bribery policy is therefore inspired by the principles of the UN Global Compact. The policy contains guidelines on how to ensure the correct formation of contracts without any forms of bribery, facility payments, gifts or entertainment.

The policy is:

Bribery: The abuse of entrusted power for private gain is unacceptable. Facilitating payments (‘grease payments’) are unacceptable. If observed, such practices must be registered.

Gifts and entertainment: No gifts, entertainment or services clearly intended to influence a decision may be given or received.

The policy is intended to increase awareness of corruption among our employees and business partners and create an understanding of how we combat corruption and bribery in our business activities. At the same time, we require our trading partners to adhere to the guidelines.

Efforts and results

Verdo has carefully considered the markets and parts of the business in which it is particularly important to think about anti-corruption and anti-bribery. In Verdo’s opinion, it is expressly necessary to think about these matters in Trading. Similarly, Trading’s trading partners are under an obligation to adhere to the principles of preventing bribery and corruption. All Trading employees with procurement responsibilities are required to adhere to the Group’s general guidelines for the procurement of wood-based fuels (‘Overordnede retningslinjer for indkøb af træbaserede brændsler ’) from 2015. All Trading suppliers are also required to comply with the Verdo Code of Conduct for Suppliers. The supplier must be able to demonstrate compliance with the guidelines at all times upon Verdo’s request. We continuously follow up on the policy and the suppliers. In 2019, we updated our Code of Conduct with the aim of stepping up efforts in this area.

Conclusion

Verdo enforces its policy of zero tolerance for corruption and bribery to ensure that contracts are made in open competition and in an ethically and legally sound manner. So far, Verdo has not observed any breaches of the policy.