In the midst of our twentieth anniversary year, Rusneftegaz convened our annual general meeting on 5 April following the publication of our 2018 consolidated financial statements, which were prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards and have been audited to the relevant standard. At the conference itself in Moscow, all proposed resolutions were successful as per the request of our leadership. As a result, we can confirm that Roman Odintsov has been appointed to the newly created position of Vice Chairman and will commence his role with immediate effect. Similar motions to re-elect all the existing members of our board were also unanimously carried, with each now starting another one-year term. Moreover, more routine votes to both reappoint our independent auditor and approve our director’s report passed without issue, in conjunction with a proposal to form two committees to create an investment strategy and R&D plans for the next cycle. Additionally, it was also agreed to maintain the current composition of our audit committee and to pay no dividends for the year, despite our excellent fiscal performance over the past twelve months. This is primarily to ensure that all our funds earned can be reinvested in approved projects, ultimately providing strong prospects for the future growth of our organization. At the culmination of this showpiece event, our Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Aleksandr Filyurin, delivered these remarks accordingly:
“Firstly, I would like to congratulate Roman on his appointment as Vice Chairman. When I interviewed him a few months ago, I thought he was the best candidate for the job by some distance, so I am genuinely delighted that he is here now. There is no doubt in my mind that he will offer a lot to this organization over the next few years, and I look forward to working with him. I would also like to place on record the thanks that the board and I have to all our staff for another great year here. Their contribution to our success continues to be immeasurable, and we will always be grateful for how much they do to help us grow. Once again, this has been another great year for Rusneftegaz. We have continued to make progress on our international expansion plans, and the investments that we have made over the last four years are paying off. To be honest with you, there is going to be a lot of big news from us over the next few months. There are a lot of people that have been working very hard to bring these plans together. Obviously, I cannot reveal much to you right now, but it is genuinely exciting. I hope that when we look back on 2019 in the future, it will be remembered as the year that we started transforming Rusneftegaz from being a national energy company into a worldwide titan of the industry. Now, it is going to be difficult, and you know that there are going to be challenges ahead, but I am incredibly optimistic about it. I really think that we have an opportunity to build something big here, and for a personal perspective, I am really looking forward to those challenges.”
Throughout the yearly conference, there was broad consensus between our leaders and all associated stakeholders in regard to our long-term aims and objectives. For instance, we have retained our existing policy of favoring domestic trading within the Russian Federation instead of international sales, although decisions are routinely made on a case-by-case basis to ship our products overseas, with the potential onus of customs and regulations factored into each decision. As previously discussed, Rusneftegaz does not plan to pay a dividend for our performance in 2018, with our shareholders fully endorsing a plan from our management to maintain spending on infrastructure at current levels. Alongside forecasting strong economic growth in 2019, the board of directors is currently implementing a long-term strategic plan to expand our production program operation beyond Russia into developing markets, which should sustainably ascend revenues and profits in the near future. This particular scheme evidently requires significant capital expenditure, and thus needs additional scrutiny and approval from those possessing a tangible stake in our corporation. The aforementioned proposal will involve us purchasing competitively priced power stations in foreign jurisdictions, renovating the plant to a high standard and producing electricity profitably. The overhaul of each site will cut emissions to appease local interests while switching generation assets to low-cost alternative fuels. The plan is expected to elevate our organization into the upper echelons of the global energy market, ensuring our status both domestically and internationally. Any questions regarding these plans or pertaining to our annual general meeting may be submitted via the conventional channels, including by telephone and email, in due course. We necessitate your cooperation and understanding with this ongoing matter.