Yury Blagov, Associate Professor and Director of the Corporate Social Responsibility Center at the Graduate School of Management of St. Petersburg University (GSOM SPbU), has been named one of the top 5 experts covering the topic of sustainable development and ESG issues in Russia. The ranking was compiled based on a survey of participants in the study "Transparency of Information on Sustainable Development Practices of Russian Companies" (available in Russian only).

Analysts from the Center for Philanthropy Development "Solidarity" and the Resource Media Center "Business and Society" conducted a series of in-depth interviews with directors of sustainability/ESG from major Russian and international companies in various industries, as well as organized a screening study of public corporate sources to determine what changes are happening today in the ESG communication ecosystem.

Study participants identified the priority areas and key projects, the main drivers, independent evaluation systems, and information channels in the field of sustainable development.

A special place in the study was given to the compilation of a ranking of headliners in three categories - "Top 25 experts," "Top 20 corporate managers," and "Top 20 journalists, media, NGOs." Within each category, five leaders were selected. The authors of the study emphasize that trust in a specific headliner is an important aspect. When "the presentation style is clear and interesting, and the information provided is reliable and qualitatively analyzed, it increases the audience's interest in the channel or public figure."