Future-oriented

- Yury Nikolaevich, you have been the Director General of OAO Varioganneft for more than two years having taken this post in a very difficult time – peak of the crisis. What is your opinion of the company’s activity for this period?

- Main achievement of the company for the last two years is not only robust stabilization of the oil production in the fields of Variogan block but also its increase. Results of 2011 show a growth of 16.3%, oil production was 2.872 mln tons. New wells are regularly commissioned within the drilling program; wells interventions are regularly performed; fields infrastructure is developed, in particular, new administrative and household building was erected at Tagrinskoe field, another administrative and household building was commissioned after workover at Variogan field DNS-6 booster station. The priority of the industrial program of OAO Varioganneft in 2012 is to maintain the oil production rate growth through implementation of projects for keeping the basic production, well intervention and drilling of new wells.

One of the priorities this year is to develop Novo-Aganskoe field. That license has been preserved for a long time. Varioganneft has commenced commercial development of Novo-Aganskoe field, seven wells have been drilled. The obtained results demonstrate high potential of this field.

- To what extent is this license perspective, given the fact that all the fields of the Variogan group are brownfields?

- We have big expectations regarding Novo-Aganskoe field and those are reasonable. The production growth will be mostly due to the drilling program implementation. In parallel, Varioganneft will continue to carry out industrial programs within the available licenses – Variogan, West Variogan, Tagrinskoe. Their potential is far away from being exhausted and they have been demonstrating stable high results. Production increase in this oil block is constant – those are very promising licenses with the reserves of over 200 mln tons. This oil will suffice both for us, our children and our grand children.

- You are the head of the company with the largest personnel in our town taking into account the subsidiaries – over 3,000 employees. In the mean time, many companies pursue optimization including staff reduction and divestment of non-core assets. What is your policy in this respect?

- Our main task is to produce oil and ensure the oil production growth. It is possible to fulfill the task only having optimum number and quality of the personnel. That is why I support neither unreasonable personnel increase nor its reduction per se. I want to stress again that the personnel must be optimal. Care about the employees, creation of comfortable and, the most important, safe working conditions are the priorities of the HR policy of OAO NK RussNeft and OAO Varioganneft.

- Trilateral agreement between OAO Varioganneft, the town administration and Occupational center has been recently signed. What is it about?

- Under the signed agreement, we work tightly with the town administration and Occupational center, considering employment for socially vulnerable people, replacing outsourced rotation-based workers with locals, practically zeroing the involvement of foreign labor. Students of Raduzhny technical high school have practical training at our company on annual basis. We liaise with educational entities of all levels, employ young specialists – 19 young specialists only this year.

Besides, thanks to the educational project of OAO NK RussNeft and Lomonosov Moscow State University, the promising specialists of the company have opportunity to take an additional university course on the core oil disciplines in the High school of innovation business, corporate department of the holding in the university. Payment for the course is undertaken by NK RussNeft. Specialists for the oil and gas industry are also prepared under another educational project of OAO NK RussNeft and Gubkin Russian State oil and gas University. Employees’ children who will seek employment in Varioganneft after graduation have the prior right to participate in the project.

All this is a systematic work for the future allowing to greatly support training of highly professional employees for the oil and gas industry who will become the future of Varioganneft and RussNeft or, may be, the future of the oil and gas industry of Russia in general.

- OAO Varioganneft has gained the status of a socially-oriented company for the recent years. It is not a secret that you support educational, cultural and sport projects in the town and in the district. What is the priority for you in this respect?

- The social policy of NK RussNeft governing all assets within the corporate structure defines a number of the key principals: direct help, its importance for a specific region, coverage of the socially vulnerable people etc. Though, it is hard to tell which charitable project of Varioganneft implemented in KhMAO and Raduzhny was more needed – educational, cultural or sport.

Our charitable program has various directions and aspects. If somebody’s life becomes a little bit lighter and kinder, this means that we do everything right.

I want to stress that the company’s employees have generous and warm-hearted approach to the charitable programs for children. For the second year yet, we have been supporting the regional charitable foundation “Giving the heart to children” which helps children with oncological diseases. The company’s employees actively participate in actions carried out by the foundation, many people make monthly donations from their wages. Over one thousand of the company’s employees have transferred around 700,000 rubles to the “Giving the heart to children” charitable foundation only this year.

- Yury Nikolaevich, three decades link you with Raduzhny. What do you recall first of all looking back? Which event do you remember best?

- Having lived decades in Raduzhny, it has become a home town for me. My children were born here. I have gained a precious professional experience and unforgettable life impressions with the colleague folks. Lives of many of my friends and colleagues are alike. But the newcoming specialists do not seem to want to settle in our town – they neither buy accommodation nor invest in Raduzhny development.

I often recall how my wife, I and our child shared a primitive wooden house with another family. This happened to be known by Ilgiz Akhlyamovich Bakirov, my boss, and right on the next day I received a phone call telling me to go and choose an apartment. That was the attitude to the young specialists at the time. I believe this is right therefore I keep the same policy. I want Raduzhny to become their home town as well. Moreover, there is a potential for that.