NK RussNeft was the general sponsor of the concerts held in Saratov within the 3d International Festival of Mstislav Rostropovich

The Company allocated 1.5 million rubles charity within the Cooperation Agreement between the Saratov region government and OAO NK RussNeft for 2012-2014.

Yury Temirkanov belongs to the orchestra directors international elite. Results of more than 20 years of the creative cooperation with the orchestra are explicitly demonstrated by one of the recent statements of Milan Corriere della Sera: “Yury Temirkanov and the St-Petersburg philharmonic orchestra are something unique in the world musical panorama…  Amazing musicians, each being a soloist, but in absolute ensemble and fusion with the others”.

The extraordinary musical event (for the first time in Saratov with a scarce tour agenda in Russia) was another important phase of the 3d International Festival of Mstislav Rostropovich organized under initiative of Ministry of Culture of Russia. The Festival, having started in Moscow as early as in March this year, has been also successfully running in other towns of Russia: St-Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Saratov, Orenburg, Voronezh, as well as in Switzerland, Germany, Italy, and France.

The world public celebrates 85 anniversary of Mstislav Rostropovich in 2012, therefore the dedicated Festival gets a special scale. According to Olga Rostropovich, daughter of the great musician and president of Foundation of cultural and humanitarian programs of M.L. Rostropovich, “On one hand, the Festival will be a gift to Saratov region from Mstislav Rostropovich for the fact that his close friends and brilliant musicians will perform. And on the other hand, this will be a gift to the Maestro himself since the love and care from the Saratov public were always important for him”.

It is to be noted that the life of Mstislav Rostropovich was linked to Saratov by quite significant events. His father was a professor in the Saratov conservatory early in the XX century; it was here where the Maestro got secretly married to his spouse Galina Vishnevskaya on the eve of his forced emigration from the USSR; he came here in May, 2006, to direct the Saratov philharmonic symphonic orchestra which celebrated its 60^th anniversary. Friends and close relatives of Mstislav Rostropovich live in Saratov.

The concerts in the Saratov academic theatre of opera and ballet within the 3d International Festival of Mstislav Rostropovich gathered many fans of the classic music. The St-Petersburg Shostakovich philharmonic academic symphonic orchestra, headed by Yury Temirkanov, performed famous pieces by P. Chaikovsky, S. Rakhmaniniv, and S. Prokofiev. Sayaka Sedzi, young Japanese violin player, one of the most popular musicians in the world, took part in the concerts.

OAO NK RussNeft and OAO Saratovneftegaz, its producing subsidiary, regularly implement the large-scale charity program in the areas of their operation. Notable material aid is given to social sphere facilities inherently lacking budget allocations: kindergartens, schools, hospitals, culture centers, sport clubs, libraries. For example, financial assistance was provided this year to carry out the next stage of “Big reading”, unique cultural educational project, which is implemented for the 6^th year under initiative of Rudomino All-Russia State Library for Foreign Literature in the Saratov regional universal scientific library. The aim of the project is to develop an interest to the book and reading, promote Russian and foreign classical literature, present the best pieces of the modern world literature.

The Company and its subsidiaries and affiliates, according to the Cooperation Agreement between Saratov region government and OAO NK RussNeft, will allocate totally over 20 million rubles by the end of 2012 for implementation of the social-economic programs and charity and sponsorship projects in the region.