The statutory audit will also extend to the elements of sustainability (ESG), which will be compulsorily reported by large companies – especially those listed and of public interest, starting from 2025, with the entry into force of the new CSRD directive, SGS experts say – one of the private players in the testing, inspection and certification (TIC) market. SGS is the largest private player on the market, with five business lines, in food, consumer goods, natural resources, industrial and environmental and business assurance.
“In 2025, financial reports will be published, along with ESG elements, for companies for the financial year 2024 – for those companies that, according to the Directive, that fall under the scope of this reporting – in principle we are talking about companies with over 500 employees, large, who also reported before this moment (n.r. including listed and of public interest). The special part that comes with the new legislative requirement is that, if until now, companies in the Sustainability Report could present those aspects that they considered beneficial as an image and that brought added value, at this moment the legislative requirement requires the publication of data on elements considered with a significant impact on the environment and which can financially impact the company,” says Raluca Florea, business manager, SGS.
The reporting will be structured, based on the new European reporting standards.
“We have a new process that the Directive brings, this double materiality evaluation, which basically means that any element that we want to present, we do it after it has been evaluated from two perspectives – the company’s impact on the environment and the way this impact will be reflected in the company’s financial results and position. All these data will have to be presented in a structured, comparable way, and later they will be audited with the same rigor with which the financial audit part was carried out until now,” adds Raluca Florea.
At the same time, Adrian Cuțitei, deputy general manager of SGS Romania, told Energynomics that Romanian companies are sufficiently well prepared to face the new requirements, as most large companies already have the experience of sustainability reports.
The reports will influence both the business chain of the companies and the financing area. Banks already grant more advantageous loans to better rated companies from this point of view, says Adrian Cuțitei.
“To some extent, certain financial institutions already practice this. I’ll give you an example – we have a product – it’s EDGE certification and it’s aimed at the construction sector. It is a tool developed by the World Bank, through which a certifier and an auditor can give, under certain conditions, this green building accreditation. The World Bank, and it is not a singular case – there are many countries that have adopted legislation in this regard – offers certain credit facilities. So this thing is happening, it’s true, I haven’t seen major steps in Romania, but, slowly, slowly, in my perception, from what I see happening in the market, it’s coming and it will happen,” also says Adrian Cuțitei.
