Independent Auditor’s Report

102-56

Independent Limited Assurance Report to the Shareholders of AO Holding Company METALLOINVEST.

Introduction

We have been engaged by management of AO Holding Company METALLOINVEST (hereinafter – the “Company”) to provide limited assurance on the Selected Information described below and included in the Sustainability Report for the year ended 31 December 2018 (hereinafter – the “Sustainability Report”).

Selected Information

We assessed the qualitative and quantitative information that is disclosed in the Sustainability Report and included in the «GRI Standards Compliance Table» for standard disclosures in environmental, workforce, safety and socio-economic areas in the reporting scope of the Sustainability Report (hereinafter – the “Selected Information”). The scope of our assurance procedures was limited to Selected Information for year ended 31 December 2018.

Reporting Criteria

We assessed the Selected Information using the Sustainability Reporting Guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI, 2016) (hereinafter – the “GRI Standards”). We believe that these reporting criteria are appropriate given the purpose of our limited assurance engagement.

AO Holding Company METALLOINVEST responsibilities

Management of the Company is responsible for:

• designing, implementing and maintaining internal controls over information relevant to the preparation of the Selected
• Information that is free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error;
• establishing objective Reporting Criteria for preparing the Selected Information;
• measuring and reporting the Selected Information based on the Reporting Criteria; and
• accuracy, completeness and fair presentation of the Selected Information.

Our responsibilities

We are responsible for:

• planning and performing the engagement to obtain limited assurance about whether the Selected Information is free from
• material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error;
• forming an independent conclusion, based on the procedures we have performed and the evidence we have obtained; and
• reporting our conclusion to the management of the Company.

This report, including our conclusions, has been prepared solely for the management of the Company in accordance with the agreement between us, to assist management in reporting on the Company’s sustainability performance and activities. We permit this report to be disclosed in the Company’s Sustainability Report for the year ended 31 December 2018, to assist management in responding to their governance responsibilities by obtaining an independent assurance report in connection with the Selected Information. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than management of the Company for our work or this report except where terms are expressly agreed between us in writing and our prior consent in writing is obtained.

Professional standards applied and level of assurance

We performed a limited assurance engagement in accordance with International Standard on Assurance Engagements 3000 (Revised) “Assurance Engagements other than Audits and Reviews of Historical Financial Information’’, issued by the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board. A limited assurance engagement is substantially less in scope than a reasonable assurance engagement in relation to both the risk assessment procedures, including an understanding of internal control, and the procedures performed in response to the assessed risks.

Our Independence and Quality Control

We have complied with the independence and other ethical requirements of the Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants issued by the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants, which is founded on fundamental principles of integrity, objectivity, professional competence and due care, confidentiality and professional behaviour, together with the ethical requirements of the Auditor’s Professional Ethics Code and Auditor’s Independence Rules that are relevant to our assurance procedures over Selected Information in the Russian Federation.

Our firm applies International Standard on Quality Control 1 and accordingly maintains a comprehensive system of quality control including documented policies and procedures regarding compliance with ethical requirements, professional standards and applicable legal and regulatory requirements.

Work done

We are required to plan and perform our work in order to consider the risk of material misstatement of the Selected Information. In doing so, we:

• made enquiries of the Company’s management, including the Sustainability Reporting team and those with responsibility for sustainability reporting management and sustainability reporting;
• conducted interviews of personnel responsible for sustainability reporting data collection;
• performed analysis of the relevant policies and basic reporting principles, gaining an understanding and evaluating the
• design of the key structures, systems, processes and controls for managing, recording and reporting the Selected Information;
• performed limited substantive testing on a selective basis of the Selected Information to check that data had been appropriately measured, recorded, collated and reported; and
• reviewed the Selected Information for compliance of the disclosures with the requirements of the GRI Standards.

Reporting and measurement methodologies

There are no globally recognised and established practices for evaluating and measuring the Selected Information. The range of different, but acceptable, techniques can result in materially different reporting outcomes that may affect comparability with other organisations. The reporting criteria used as a basis of the Company’s sustainability reporting should therefore be read in conjunction with the Selected Information and associated statements reported on the Company’s website¹.

Limited assurance conclusion

Based on the procedures we have performed and the evidence we have obtained:

• nothing has come to our attention that causes us to believe that the Selected Information for the year ended 31 December 2018 has not been prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with the requirements of the GRI Standards; and
• nothing has come to our attention that causes us to believe that the Selected Information does not meet the Core requirements in accordance with the Guidelines of the GRI Standards.

Audited entity: AO Holding Company METALLOINVEST
State registration certificate № 103.931,issued by the Moscow Registration Chamber on 8 November 2000
Certificate of inclusion in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities issued on 5 July 2002 under registration № 1027700006289
Rublyovskoye shosse, 28, Moscow, Russia

Independent auditor: AO PricewaterhouseCoopers Audit
Registered by the Government Agency Moscow Registration Chamber on 28 February 1992 under No. 008.890
Record made in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities on 22 August 2002 under State Registration Number 1027700148431
Member of Self-regulated organization of auditors «Russian Union of auditors» (Association)
Principal Registration Number of the Record in the Register of Auditors and Audit Organizations –11603050547

¹ The maintenance and integrity of the Company’s website is the responsibility of management; the work carried out by us does not involve consideration of these matters and, accordingly, we accept no responsibility for any changes that may have occurred to the reported Selected Information or Reporting Criteria when presented on the Company’s website.