As we mark the 25^th anniversary since this company was founded, Rusneftegaz held our annual general meeting on 5 April in Moscow, attended by a plethora of delegates from every corner of the world. Not only did this include all our executive leadership, but also a number of key stakeholders and managers, each of whom made proactive contributions to the discussions that were held at the event itself. This included productive talks pertaining to our next research and development plan, due to be reviewed early next year, in addition to our corporate investment strategy, which is similarly expected to be revised in due course. While this element of the conference constituted the vast majority of time in these conventions, the disclosure of our consolidated financial statements for 2023 served as the highlight of the assembly, where our organization unveiled record revenues from our activities during the twelve-month period.  

Such fiscal results were audited pursuant to all relevant laws and prepared in full compliance with International Financial Reporting Standards, otherwise known as IFRS. At the conclusion of the yearly congress, all proposed resolutions were passed unanimously, including motions to approve the aforementioned financial statements and the corresponding director’s report. It was likewise resolved to maintain the board of directors and audit committee as each is currently composed, in conjunction with retaining the services of the current auditor. It was also mutually agreed that once again a dividend will not be paid this year, with the consensus amongst the quorum being that our corporation should continue its existing practice of reinvesting earned profits to maximize long-term growth and to ultimately expedite the expansion process. At the end of the event, our Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Aleksandr Filyurin, gave the following statement:  

“I think that first and foremost the board and I should place on record our thanks to everyone here who has done so much to make the past year such a big success. A lot is going right here despite what is going on around us now, and there are a lot of people here that can take credit for that, and I hope that they know who they are. Breaking records in what is supposed to be a hard time to do business is an utterly enormous achievement, especially when you look around us and see that a lot of our competitors are struggling at the same time as we are doing really well. Now, it is obviously a very important time for us too; heading into a 25^th anniversary year is a big deal, and we are going to mark the occasion. I am not going to pretend that I don’t know what we have planned, but I think you are going to have to wait a little while longer before I can tell you anything. There is a lot to look forward to here at the moment, and I am sure that it is going to continue for a long time yet.”  

Overall, our rapid rate of fiscal growth over the past few years did not abate in the last twelve months, with our corporation once again recording record revenues and profits in 2023. At this point in time, our trade in commodities is now the largest element of our business, composing the bulk of our turnover in spite of the ongoing challenges that our company faces externally. Although it is difficult to project how the geopolitical situation may evolve over the course of the next year, we believe that these conditions are unlikely to change significantly within this timeframe, and thus it is doubtful that our firm will be overly impacted. However, due to the continuing volatility in global commodity prices and the potential for political actions against both the Russian Federation and the oil and gas industry, there shall always be a substantial degree of uncertainty in our forecasts.  

That said, our latest projections for this current year foresee our organization surpassing these previous totals, with the success that has seen Rusneftegaz develop so rapidly since the beginning of the decade set to continue into the foreseeable future. The scale of this growth is unprecedented in our corporate history, and as a result, our management is keen to capitalize on the progress of our international commodity trading arm, which has been the main catalyst of this enlargement. Therefore, we recently disclosed our intention to increase the scope of this area of our business by starting to deal in agrochemicals, such as urea and ammonia. Previously, our enterprise had been solely focused upon exchanging crude oil and refined products, ultimately to great accomplishment, although we do not anticipate developing this sector of our operations much further. Instead, we intend to improve our market share in the goods we do sell, rather than seeking to expand our remit. 

In spite of this, our leadership cannot rule out the prospect of further expansion entirely, with ambition being innate and fundamental to the core philosophy of Rusneftegaz throughout our history. This is no more acute as we begin to mark our 25^th anniversary year, a considerable milestone for us and a time to reflect upon what we have accomplished during this timeframe. We plan to hold a major celebration of this notable achievement over the coming months, with additional details to be announced in due course. As this is such a significant event, we are hoping to include all our employees in these festivities regardless of their location or schedule, some of whom have worked for us for the entire span of time. Although it should be noted that despite the fact that this is a monumental occasion for us, we are wholly optimistic that there will be many more similar celebrations of our triumphs yet to come. Any queries pertaining to the subjects mentioned may be submitted via email or telephone in haste. We necessitate your cooperation and understanding with this matter.

Following the announcement last month that our organization intends to increase its capacity to trade fertilizers and other agricultural products, Rusneftegaz can disclose that we have appointed Vladimir Korobeynikov as our first Director of Agrochemical Trading. This new position will oversee the creation of a new subdivision within our enterprise, whilst simultaneously providing us with the key insights required to ensure that our plans are a success. Although this is not expected to become the largest segment of our wider commercial operations, our management believe that there is a significant opportunity to expand into this industry and capitalize upon an expanding new market. In response to this appointment, Korobeynikov gave this statement: 

“I am delighted to have been appointed to this role. Igor has been extremely open with me, sharing his knowledge with me, and importantly his bold and ambitious goals for the future. I am attracted to the project, to build a business with a clear focus to become a leader in the fertilizer industry. We will do the best we can and aim to move forward in this area as fast as we can. I look forward to meeting the other staff here and all the other people associated with Rusneftegaz over the next couple of months.” 

Korobeynikov will commence his new role in September, when he will work under the stewardship of our Director of Trading, Dmitri Kozhevnikov, who has served in this role for almost five years. In the immediate term, the incoming member of our team will bear responsibility for implementing the final preparations before our agrochemical marketing capacity increases later this year. This includes not only exercising oversight in relation to the acquisition and construction of the key infrastructure necessary to ensure this scheme is viable, but also establishing relationships with new partners across the globe that ultimately have the competences to guarantee the delivery of such products to our customers. He will similarly construct and manage a roster of personnel whom have the capability to work in unison with the wider department led by the Director of Trading to facilitate and expedite this growth. Following these developments, Kozhevnikov remarked: 

“I am very pleased to announce that Vladimir will be joining us from this summer onwards. His arrival marks an important step forward for our organization, as we continue to strengthen our team with individuals of exceptional caliber. Vladimir brings with him an impressive wealth of experience, having held senior leadership roles for some of the most recognizable and innovative companies in the world, and will bring a strong vision and an insightful approach to the day-to-day running of this operation. I am confident in his abilities and wish him well.” 

In the longer term, the incoming director is expected to leverage his previous experience trading agrochemicals with corporations from every corner of the world, ultimately building global connections that will be both useful and lucrative for us as we commence business in this sphere. As someone with intricate knowledge of this trade, Korobeynikov has been appointed to this role on the basis of his extensive contact within this industry, and our management is optimistic that he will be able to attract a plethora of customers to us as he has done so for his existing employers. This includes potential clients in both North America and Europe, where he has worked extensively for a wide range of companies in a long and distinguished career. Any subsequent updates in relation to these operations will be provided in due course, and any vacancies that are to arise in the months ahead will be duly advertised on both this website, and via our local partners, at the relevant time. We necessitate your cooperation and understanding regarding this developing matter. 

Our executive leadership can today circulate a comprehensive provisional calendar for the upcoming fiscal year, the main highlight of which is scheduled to occur at the beginning of April, when our organization convenes for our annual general meeting. While this date may be subject to change, it will provide an ample opportunity for all those involved in the affairs and operations of Rusneftegaz to coalesce, principally to facilitate debate and discussion regarding our present activities and future strategies. Prior to this showpiece event, we will be promulgating our 2023 consolidated financial statements for all our key stakeholders and any other interested parties three days before the main convention itself. Similarly, we expect to continue our current practice of disclosing exhaustive production data four weeks after each quarter concludes, although it should be noted that it is expected that additional dates may be added to our corporate schedule in due course. This is solely due to the fact that in 2024 we shall be marking our 25th anniversary, and thus we anticipate making a series of announcements early next year informing how we intend to commemorate this momentous occasion. We are optimistic that these celebrations will serve as a major element of what will ultimately be a successful year for our business, and the aforementioned festivities will involve all the staff associated with our enterprise regardless of their location. 

In the weeks ahead, however, it must be acknowledged that our capacity to answer any inquiries will be limited as a result of employee vacations over the Christmas and New Year holiday. During this timeframe, which is forecast to occur between 25 December 2023 and 9 January 2024, none of our other corporate activities will be impacted, and our production will continue as normal. Whilst communications throughout this period will be monitored, we cannot wholly guarantee that we will return any correspondences that may be urgent, and the sender may have to wait until the resumption of business for a reply. With this considered, we advise anyone who seeks to contact our corporation, or any member of our personnel, to do so prior to this date to secure a response in due course. Once our full administrative service has resumed, we will endeavor to address all pending messages within one working day, as will all our partners, subsidiaries and affiliates, all of whom are also affected. The preliminary calendar is available in its entirety on our official website, and although the dates are subject to change, any major alterations are not anticipated by our managements at this time. Any queries concerning this announcement should be directed towards customary channels as soon as possible, primarily to enable us to respond before our capability to do so is restricted. We urge your cooperation and understanding in relation to this most pertinent matter.

At the culmination of what has been an exceptional period for Rusneftegaz, we hosted a gala dinner in Moscow to celebrate the achievements of a number of our staff over the past year. Guests included members of our board of directors, in addition to our managers, senior personnel and other key stakeholders. These delegates traveled not only the length and breadth of Russia to attend, but also across the world, with a contingent arriving from our trading office in New York a few days prior. All those invited marked a significant twelve months for our company, as we continued to make rapid progress in fulfilling the plans that were delayed by the coronavirus pandemic at the beginning of the decade. Consequently, we are set to accomplish record levels of investment expenditure for 2023, with major outlays in every area of our current production program. At the event itself, our Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Aleksandr Filyurin, delivered the following remarks:    

“Firstly, I would like to send my congratulations to all the gentleman who have won awards this evening. The stories we are told about them continue to astound us each year, not only for the efforts each of them has made, but also for their resilience and determination under the challenging circumstances they face. More broadly, I would also like to thank all our staff for their service this year. You have all done an exceptional job in what has been a difficult time for us. We have obviously had major setbacks over the past few years, not only with the pandemic, but also with the deterioration in the geopolitical situation last year. However, because of you, we have managed to recover, and recover quickly. We now have many reasons to be optimistic as we approach our 25th anniversary year, and I hope that each of them will be able to join us on the journey ahead.”    

Ultimately, the main prizes of the night were awarded to Konstantin Mikhaylov and Artem Volkov, who were named Employee of the Year and Young Employee of the Year, respectively. The former was honored for overseeing an average increase of 27,9% in productivity at oil wells he has maintained over the past three years, whereas the latter is recognized for completing his graduate program with us despite the deaths of both his father and brother in the last twelve months. In conjunction with these awards, we also venerated a further twenty-one members of our staff with special commendations for their efforts this year, ranging from our administrative personnel to our operatives in the field. As we prepare to mark our 25th anniversary next year, we shall remain grateful to all those who have worked diligently throughout this time to enable our success, and we hope that our achievements continue for many decades to come.