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By Mario Ruiz-Tagle*

The role of Governance in a company goes far beyond a structured and efficient management, aligned with the interests of the business. It is often linked to the identity of the organization, which has as its core reinforce its commitment to its stakeholders and maintain in its strategy the ethical principles of acting with transparency, aiming at generating value.
 

I believe that the challenge of large corporations is to structure a Corporate Governance capable of strengthening its purpose and performing an effective performance within the defined business model, without losing agility in the decision-making process, with clarity and efficiency before society as a whole. For Neoenergia, the center of this strategy aims to consolidate the company as the largest and most profitable integrated energy company in Brazil.
 

We are based on the Iberdrola culture, which permeates all members of our global group, and we operate independently and autonomously in our management and governance. In compliance with best practices, we present the most objective set of information to the market and thus guarantee increasing relevance to the Neoenergia brand for Brazil. Based on solid purposes and values, we ensure compliance with appropriate standards, always with a view to social interest. Our business vision is long-term, which brings us resilience and avoids risks and inefficiencies in the execution of decision making.
 

A clear example of this governance is the Annual Sustainability Report, a document that we disclose annually and includes data of non-financial dimension. The publication supports us in creating sustainable value that I value in the management of the company, in addition to being prepared in accordance with the standards of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and, since 2020, under the guidelines of the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) and sustainability accounting standards (SASB) for the electricity sector. We apply the good governance practices of financial reports to our non-financial information, with independent auditing and validation by the responsible leadership of each area in SOX system.
 

Moreover, in a period of great challenges and impacts on all sectors, caused by the recent health crisis of covid and the economic recovery, we know the relevance of each contribution made. I believe it is essential to give confidence to institutional relationship groups, with healthy growth, substantial tax collection, fees and contributions to the bodies.
 

To present what has been done in the financial dimension of Neoenergia, we recently launched the first edition of our Annual Tax Transparency Report, voluntarily and in detail informing the tax contributions of the year 2021. The publication reinforces the commitment to society to ensure ethical principles of corporate governance in accordance with Brazilian legislation and international good practices. In addition to the robustness of the group and the relevance of our performance in recent years. In 2021, the total tax contribution paid by Neoenergia reached R$ 13.1 billion, 12.2% higher than in 2020. It is noteworthy that the company recorded a total of R$ 36.2 billion in taxes paid in the last three years, reinforcing its relevance in the sector.
 

As a result of the adoption of these measures and attributes, we were recognized with the achievement of the Transparency Trophy, an important initiative of the National Association of Finance, Administration and Accounting Executives (Anefac). This milestone positions Neoenergia among the ten companies with net revenues above R$ 8 billion that present high quality and transparency of financial information provided to the market, as well as consistency of management report and adherence to accounting principles.

Also in line with our position, the achievement also highlights the value creation of fiscal management policies related to our activities within the ESG index, in which we set goals and strategies within the Environmental, Social and Governance areas, ensuring, once again, the high standard of the company's activities.
 

I consider it indispensable that companies embrace a sustainable and transparent strategy, with solid investments that encompass the business segments, in accordance with Brazilian regulations, as well as the commitment to creating value for society, shareholders, markets, customers, employees and other related audiences. I see day by day how ensuring ethics in corporate governance promotes an environment with more trust, predictability, security and credibility for our employees, customers and stakeholders.
 

 * Article written byMario Ruiz-Tagle, CEO of Neoenergia

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