Rusneftegaz can announce that we have appointed Igor Migunov in the newly-created position of Director of International Operations, and will commence his new role with immediate effect. This post will ultimately bear responsibility for the execution of our wider global expansion plans, the results of which are expected to be disclosed in the weeks and months ahead. In response to his appointment, Igor Migunov stated: 

“I am very proud to have been promoted to this prestigious position. I have been delighted with my time working with Rusneftegaz so far, and I hope that it continues long into the future. I would like to thank the directors personally for putting their faith in me; their contributions to this work so far have been invaluable. I hope that I am able to continue this good work, and I am excited to put together a team capable of delivering the results expected of me.” 

Migunov has worked as Deputy Chief Operations Officer for Rusneftegaz since his appointment in 2016, where he acted as the understudy to board member, Vitaliy Kalyuzhniy. During this time, he has taken on a broad range of portfolios, including overseeing petroleum extraction at our sites in the Komi Republic and the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, in addition to arranging considerable and complex oil sales. Migunov has extensive experience in this industry, both in Russia and abroad, having previously taken leadership roles at Gazprom Neft and at trading companies across Europe. Following his promotion, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Aleksandr Filyurin remarked: 

“Since Igor joined us three years ago, he has done some outstanding work, and it was inevitable that we would go far within our organization. I think it is fair to say that we have worked hard to establish this new business plan, but there is no doubt in my mind that Igor is the right man to take it forward. It is also worth mentioning that this is the first time a senior leadership position has been created at Rusneftegaz for over six years, and Igor is more than befitting that position. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the other members of the board, and all the other members of staff, that have helped make this plan a success so far.” 

This new directorate will be tasked with furthering our extensive relationships with foreign governments, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa, where we shall continue to collaborate with our local partners. Migunov will not only be charged with continuing this work, but also advancing it further, both in the jurisdictions where we presently to do business and beyond. Commencing operations in new countries and regions is a fundamental tenet of our current commercial strategy, which has been in effect since its revision in 2015. Thus, the Director of International Operations will also be charged with establishing an international trading hub, the creation of which is now in the final stages. This new office, which is projected to begin business early next year, is expected to drive significant increases in revenues from the sale of crude oil and refined products in both domestic and global markets. 

Both this project, in addition to a simultaneous international expansion of our electricity generation operations, has been under research for the past three years, with material investments committed to ensure its long-term success. The enlargement of our energy business is set to begin with the acquisition of power plants in developing countries, the purchase of which Migunov is expected to manage accordingly, in conjunction with an overhaul of these assets to meet contemporary economic and environmental standards. To fulfill this, the director will be appointing a team to assist him with these vital tasks, and will be spending his time working between our office in Moscow and our new international trading hub accordingly. Any vacancies that subsequently arise will be advertised on this website and via our partners in due course.

After a comprehensive review of our internal corporate structure, Rusneftegaz can today report that our leadership has collectively endorsed a proposition from one of our independent directors, Sergei Kolesnikov, to expand our management board. This has been enabled with a late motion being filed at our upcoming annual general meeting, which is set to be held in less than six weeks. Prior to this announcement, all propositions at the yearly conference were expected to be routine submissions, including to reappoint our auditor and authorize our remuneration policy. However, if it is passed, this new proposal will result in the creation of the role of Vice Chairman, who would bear similar responsibilities to that of his immediate superior and assume control in an official capacity if the head of the body were to be incapacitated. Whilst this may be the second enlargement of the committee within the past twenty-four months, having previously added two non-executives back in 2017, there is an erstwhile belief that such a course of action is critical to facilitate our expansion in the years ahead. Therefore, this should not be construed as an attempt to increase oversight or scrutiny of the current administration, but instead as a means of reducing both the burden and strain on those who presently serve in these challenging positions. In response to this news, our Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Aleksandr Filyurin, gave the following remarks:  

“I am very pleased that I can endorse this proposal. Since I joined Rusneftegaz in 2015, the board and I have been looking for as many ways as possible to ensure that this company does not go through hard times as it did in the few years before I joined. To be honest, the only reason I was appointed here was to fix the mess that had been made, and now it is vital that we ensure that it never happens again. I would like to place on record my thanks to Sergei for the massive contribution he has made since he joined us a couple of years ago, including coming up with the idea to add another member to the board. His work looking at our governance standards has been superb, suggesting ideas to make sure that we don’t make the same mistakes that this company did before. I would also like to thank our shareholders, who have been very supportive of this idea since it was first conceived. I think that by adding someone new, we can help ensure that this company isn’t led by a small cabal of managers who have absolute control over everything that is done here. We can make sure that Rusneftegaz remains free of corruption and does things properly. Fortunately, the candidate we have chosen for Vice Chairman is amazing, and I look forward to working with him long into the future.” 

Consequently, we can confirm that Roman Odintsov has been nominated for the position of Vice Chairman, with his potential appointment subject to the approval of shareholders in Moscow at the beginning of April. To date, he has led a highly distinguished career, with our executive leadership viewing him as an exceptionally qualified candidate for the role following a long and exhaustive recruitment process. Since graduating from university in Saint Petersburg with qualifications in English and French, Odintsov has held various roles in both the public and private sector, including in the Ministry of Energy, where he specialized in oil production. We can also disclose that preceding this announcement, he met with a selection of our key stakeholders to discuss his nomination. Thus, as a result, the outcome of the vote is now internally considered a formality. If his candidacy be approved as expected, Odintsov would start in his new post immediately, and it should be noted that any further expansion to the current composition of our board of directors is anticipated in the imminent future. Any queries regarding this matter, or otherwise pertaining to our impending annual general meeting, must be submitted via the conventional channels in due course. We require your cooperation and understanding with regard to this topic. 

Rusnefegaz has published a preliminary calendar for the upcoming fiscal year, with the disclosure of our consolidated financial statements on 2 April 2019 acting as the central highlight of an eventful year ahead. Subsequently, our annual general meeting will be convened later in the same week, providing a valuable opportunity for us to engage with our key stakeholders and deliberate our immediate and long-term plans. Presently, the conference is due to be held on 5 April 2019, although it should be noted that this date is subject to change prior to any further announcements. As a component of our ongoing operational procedures, we have also outlined our commitment to providing comprehensive quarterly production reports within a period of four weeks following the conclusion of each reporting cycle. It is important to acknowledge, however, that there may be disparities between the time such information is distributed to concerned parties, and the subsequent uploading of such material onto our website. 

​Additionally, it should be duly noted that in the coming weeks our ability to address nonessential inquiries, including those received via email and telephone, will be limited owing to the Christmas season, during which our staff will be taking vacations. This imminent disruption, which is anticipated to span from 24 December 2018 and 9 January 2019, will impact our administrative functions exclusively, and will not have any repercussions on our other operations. Consequently, it is imperative that all correspondences be sent to us as soon as possible to ensure a timely response. We would like to assure those affected by this that all messages received during this period will be diligently monitored and addressed if deemed necessary. Upon the conclusion of this timeframe, our utmost priority will be to promptly attend to all pending communications within one working day. This commitment is shared by our affiliates and subsidiaries, all of whom are also affected by this disruption. The provisional calendar can be accessed in its entirety on our official website, and although the aforementioned dates are subject to change at the discretion of the board, our management currently perceives any such amendments as unlikely. Should there be any inquiries pertaining to this announcement, we kindly request that these are directed via the usual channels at the earliest convenience, principally to guarantee a response before our capacity to do so becomes constrained. We greatly appreciate your cooperation and understanding in relation to this matter.

At the end of what has been an exceptional period for us, Rusneftegaz held our annual awards ceremony in Moscow last week to recognize the achievements of our workforce over the past twelve months. In what was an enjoyable night attended by many of those associated with our organization, including senior staff, managers, directors and other stakeholders, we celebrated a year where we made strong progress towards realizing the objectives that we first published in 2015. Although it has been a timeframe without many notable highlights, we have continued to expand our enterprise internationally by pursuing opportunities available to us in North Africa, in addition to overhauling our web presence to befit a corporation of our caliber. Nevertheless, perhaps the most significant development in the preceding twelve months has been the expansion of our ongoing investment program, which we believe shall yield considerable growth in all areas of our business in the near future. In response to what has been an outstanding year for us, our Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Aleksandr Filyurin, gave the following remarks: 

“I would like to extend my congratulations to all the award winners, there were many excellent nominees this year, but all the awards have been rightly deserved. Each of them has been key in helping us make excellent progress this year, and we hope that soon we will be able to achieve all our current plans. To be direct with you, next year is going to be a very important year for us as a company. First and foremost, we intend to mark the twentieth anniversary of the formation of Rusneftegaz in an appropriate way, but we also have big plans in terms of our international expansion plan. It is very exciting. The board and I are forever grateful to everyone who works for this company, and we hope that they all stay here and help us realize our ambitions as a company.” 

During the evening itself, our esteemed colleague Ivan Kovalchuk was named as our employee of the year, which he earned for his impressive work implementing changes on each of our oil production sites. For a six-week span, the engineer researched the most suitable variable-frequency drives for each of our pumpjacks, and was later instrumental in upgrading these components in a timely manner. In much the same vein, our young employee of the year award was bestowed upon Anatoliy Kuznetsov, who graduated first in his class and registered a perfect score in nineteen of his practical assessments. Whilst such phenomenal results are considered extraordinary amongst those recorded by his peers and predecessors, it is perhaps not as illustrious as the career of Pavel Kulikov, whose imminent retirement was also marked in the course of the proceedings. In a long and distinguished time with us, he joined Rusneftegaz in 1999 shortly after our formation, and since then has become one of our longest-serving employees. He will be fondly remembered by all his contemporaries, particularly those of whom he shared the cakes that his wife would regularly bake for him and his companions. We hope that he enjoys his newly discovered free time, and that all those who remain with us have a fruitful year ahead. As an organization, we are eternally indebted to all our personnel for their endeavors, and will continue to acknowledge the efforts of all those who exceed our expectations for the foreseeable future.