After an extensive consultation with all key stakeholders, the board of directors has resolved to hold the 2020 annual general meeting on 29 May via absentee voting. A new information pack will be dispatched to all participants within one week of this announcement, including any ballot papers for those who hold the right to participate in the event. Each voter will then have a six-week period to return the completed polling paper, which will then be tallied prior to the commencement of the session. Following this announcement, our Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Aleksandr Filyurin, issued this statement: 

“I am pleased that we have been able to make these changes to the AGM (annual general meeting) to make sure that it goes ahead as planned. Let us be direct about this, it is far from being an ideal situation, but these are unprecedented times and we know that we need to do things differently. I would like to place on record my thanks to all our stakeholders, who have been very accommodating to all these changes, and have been in regular contact with us since the pandemic started. I am optimistic that we will be able to host an EGM (extraordinary general meeting) later this year so that we will have a chance to hold the talks that were planned before all this started.” 

The agenda for the 2020 annual general meeting, which was initially scheduled to be held on 10 April, is unchanged from the original as before. As such, shareholder consensus is sought to ratify the amendments to the executive remuneration policy, and also to approve an auditor for the next fiscal year. There will likewise be an opportunity to review and endorse the 2020 consolidated financial statements, although it should be noted that said documents have already been submitted to the relevant authorities for legal reasons. All attendants will be notified of these changes electronically and in writing, and interested parties are free to submit questions in regards to these new plans. We necessitate your cooperation and understanding with these important affairs.

Regarding the update from last week, a further executive order has been issued resulting in an extension to the shutdown period until 30 April. As such, all Rusneftegaz offices are to remain closed, and as a result our organization will continue to have a limited capacity to respond to any non-urgent communications. Following this announcement, our Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Aleksandr Filyurin, gave these remarks: 

“It is obviously very important that we remain closed considering the circumstances. It is a very concerning time for all of us, and we do not want anyone to become sick, or worse. I urge all our staff to be vigilant and to be strong at this time, and to follow all the rules at all times. I would like to place on record my thanks to all our staff, who are working hard despite the obvious challenges. I would especially like to thank all our staff that are continuing to work as normal, whose efforts are extraordinary and are making us all proud. Together, we will come back stronger from this.” 

Pertaining to the electronic communications received previously, all employees that were instructed to continue reporting to work on 26 March should continue to do so as normal. Any staff queries regarding this announcement should be directed to the appropriate manager, and although we can still accept questions from third parties via all the conventional means, please be aware that there may be a delay in response time. We necessitate your cooperation and understanding with this matter during this difficult period.

After consultation with a significant proportion of interested parties the board of directors has elected to adjourn the planned annual general meeting, which was scheduled to be held in Moscow on 10 April, until further notice. Recent developments with regards to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic have made it logistically impossible to hold such an event at this unprecedented time, although the 2020 consolidated financial statements are still expected to be published on 7 April electronically. In the aftermath of this change, our Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Aleksandr Filyurin, gave the following statement: 

“It is obviously extremely disappointing that we are having to postpone our AGM (annual general meeting), but it is something that we have been preparing for considering everything that is happening at the moment. Obviously, the situation is changing very rapidly, and we are all doing our best to keep ourselves updated with what is happening. It is a very concerning time for us, and we are doing everything we can to act in the best interests of all our staff, and the best interests of Rusneftegaz. I am optimistic that once this has passed, we will be able to host the AGM as normal, it is one of the highlights of our calendar.” 

Pending further updates, our executive leadership is currently examining the prospects of holding this conference remotely within the next eight weeks, in addition to an in-person extraordinary general meeting later in the year. In the coming days, we will do our utmost to ensure that all parties affected by this will be duly informed of any further updates to our anticipated schedule, although all such affairs may change considering the wider circumstances. Although we have taken proactive measures to communicate with those of whom we expect to be involved in the discussions, we extend an invitation to anyone with further inquiries to promptly contact us via any of the usual means. We necessitate your cooperation and understanding at this challenging time.

An executive order has been issued from the President of the Russian Federation instructing that the week from 30 March until 3 April is to be a non-working week. As a direct consequence of this, all non-essential workplaces are to temporarily close with immediate effect, including all Rusneftegaz corporate and regional offices. However, due to the fact that we have a plethora of continuous operations that cannot be suspended or shut down, all staff should be aware that their managers will send electronic communications tomorrow to inform whether it will be necessary to report to work during this period. As these facilities will continue operate as normal during this timeframe, our board of directors has published a comprehensive plan to mitigate the threat of coronavirus on our operations, and also to minimize the number of staff required on these sites. Foremost, this shall entail substantially increasing the number of both internal and external communications regarding the pandemic, as recommended by Rospotrebnadzor, to ensure each member of our workforce is alert to inherent risks of contagion. In order to help facilitate this, posters are to be displayed outlining these changes, and all new procedures will be constantly reviewed for their effectiveness by management. Any deliberate attempt to undermine these new procedures will result in disciplinary action. Considering these major developments, our Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Aleksandr Filyurin, subsequently issued these remarks: 

“This is not only a very concerning time for Rusneftegaz, but for the entire world. It would normally be very disappointing to have to shut down parts of the business, but considering the circumstances, I can honestly say that I support this decision. This appears to be a major threat to us, and at the moment saving lives is more important than our profit margins. I hope that I can reassure all our staff by saying that we are doing everything we can to prevent the spread of coronavirus here at Rusneftegaz by taking all the measures that we can. From a personal perspective, I have no intention of placing my family and I in any form of danger, so we will not be returning until it is safe to do so. Fortunately, by taking action now, I think we will be able to return in a few weeks, all this will have passed, and we will be safe again. I also think it is a good time for the board and I to place on record our thanks to all our staff that will be working as normal during this time. I would also like to thank all the staff who will be working from their homes for the next few weeks. We are facing a difficult time, but we are doing so together, and I pray to God that this will end and we can return to normal soon.” 

As an organization with a broad range of interests, each business within our company grouping will be affected uniquely, and whilst management has deployed the utmost diligence in the preparation of these measures, they are still subject to change if advice from external bodies is modified. For those asked to report to work, all staff are to face temperature checks upon arrival, with any workers displaying an abnormal result being ejected from the site immediately. All workers are to have access to hand sanitizer in every room, and all workstations are to be routinely disinfected by cleaning staff throughout the day. Similarly, the handover procedures for shift changes have been reconfigured to minimize personal contact, and all meetings are to be cancelled or held electronically. Likewise, selected members of our staff will begin to work remotely, and any employees enrolled on education programs will now complete their courses electronically rather than at an institution. All business travel, both in Russia and internationally, has been suspended with immediate effect. Correspondingly, the board of directors is set to deliberate the future on the 2020 annual general meeting in consultation with key stakeholders, whilst all other corporate events due to be held in April have been postponed indefinitely. As a consequence of these changes, we will have limited capacity to respond to any nonessential communications during the week of the closure, including to any electronic or telephone messages. Therefore, we request that all staff queries be directed to their manager, who will have received a comprehensive briefing with regards to these new arrangements. External questions via all the existing channels are still welcome, but may be affected by our reductions in working capacity throughout this period. We necessitate your cooperation and understanding with this vital matter.