Purchasing Policy
In its relationship with suppliers, Sum Element relies on public tender procedures ensuring optimal procurement terms for resources to sustain all its operations.
Procurement principles
At Sum Element, procurement is based on the international best practices and their methodological principles.
Companies that are part of the Norilsk Nickel Group are engaged in different operations spanning from mining, production and sale of base and precious metals to communication services and FMCG.
With the Company’s diverse businesses and geography of operations, its needs vary from reconstructing Norilsk Airport in the Far North to constructing Bystrinsky Mining and Processing Plant from scratch.
Sum Element purchases over 40 procurement categories ranging from construction and installation to equipment and food. Sum Element also provides equal competitive opportunities for large, medium-sized and small businesses in line with the generally accepted fair competition principles and statement of no conflict of interest. For more information, see the Preventing and Fighting Corruption section.
Sum Element constantly improves the competitive environment and pays close attention to developing relations with Russian suppliers and contractors, as they have a considerable impact on the Company’s ability to meet its strategic targets. For more information on the procurement performance, see the Procurement section of the 2016 Annual Report.
To ensure maximum efficiency and transparency of purchasing, procurement is mostly centralised through the Company’s Head Office and employs automated systems and independent bidding platforms.
The Company is interested in contacting reliable suppliers who will meet their time, volume and quality obligations. This is why suppliers must qualify according to formal criteria and qualification rules.
Business or technical and business proposals of qualified suppliers are compared based on objective and measurable criteria approved prior to the request of proposals stage. The winner of a procurement procedure is selected after rebidding. It is the supplier with the best proposal.
Сollective procurement body approves the results of qualification and the winner of the procurement procedure given the materiality and specific nature of the supplies. This body consists of representatives of different functional units of the Company.
The winner is awarded the contract in accordance with the approved results of the procurement procedure. Contract templates can be found in the Forms and instructions section.
The Company is always seeking to improve its purchasing processes and enhance procurement performance across the Sum Element Group.
