Subject. This article summarizes development trends in non-financial reporting and traces the current problems of its content and qualities. Objectives. The article aims to indicate key problems of the content and quality of non-financial reporting, referring to the analyzable publications and analytical reviews of corporate practices. It also aims to determine possible regulation areas of non-financial reporting practices as part of the Concept for the Development of Public Non-Financial Reporting in the Russian Federation. Methods. For the study, we used the methods of detailed description and summary, comparison, analogy, and the logic and systems approaches. We analyzed scientific publication in periodicals and analytical reviews of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, Big Four companies, focusing on the development of non-financial reporting practices. Results. The article summarizes key problems of non-financial reporting, which are typical of the Russian and foreign companies. We suggest how the regulation of non-financial reporting should be developed in Russia, referring to the European experience and corporate practices. The article provides an analysis of the non-financial reporting quality in twelve Russian companies so as to verify and identify issues of its content and quality. Conclusions. Businesses do prepare their non-financial reports in compliance with the international standards and initiatives on sustainable development. They often fail to disclose what method they use to select subjects for their reports, reluctantly giving examples of negative effects on the environment or other adverse impact of their operations. The information is not always comparable for accounting periods. Considering the experience of the European countries in the regulation of non-financial reporting, we conclude there should be conceptual principles for non-financial reporting in accordance with international standards and national distinctions.

Subject. Currently, the Russian economy sees the institution of non-financial reporting emerging. What it means is ambiguous. On the one hand, the country adopts the concept of public non-financial reporting and the Federal Law On Public Non-Financial Reporting is being drafted. On the other hand, experts complain about the quality and comparability of such reports. Public non-financial reporting constitutes a set of data and indicators on purposes, approaches and results of corporate performance concerning all material issues of social responsibility and sustainable development. Objectives. We determine whether the USSR methodology for setting social indicators is applicable to modern Russia. We also describe the impact of the inertia of the Soviet period in the current circumstances, compare social indicators the Soviet enterprises released after WWII with the international non-financial reporting standards, in order to understand whether they are still relevant. Methods. We investigated the way the Soviet enterprises formed and disclosed their social indicators. The article also presents the comparative analysis of the said indicators with those of Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), key indicators of the Russian Union of Industrialist and Entrepreneurs and the list of key indicators proposed by the Russian Ministry of Economic Development as part of the Public Non-Financial Reporting Concept for the Russian Federation. Results. The article provides the rationale for the Soviet methodology for setting social indicators to be used in Russia today. Conclusions. The list of relevant key indicators of non-financial reporting (as drafted by the Russian Ministry of Economic Development in 2019) is mainly comparable to those disclosed by the Soviet enterprises. The international non-financial reporting standards mostly provide for qualitative and descriptive metrics. Quantitative indicators are more comparable, verifiable and generalizable, which is important for such a stakeholder as the State.