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.

Rusneftegaz can announce that our organization has signed a series of agreements with various suppliers across the globe to significantly increase our trading volumes of synthetic fertilizers in the immediate future. Although we have previously exchanged agrochemicals upon occasion during the past five years, such business has been exclusively based upon single transactions with a select number of third parties whom have been assessed as being creditworthy. Under the expanded scheme, our company will be able to purchase and sell a greater variety of products directly from the corresponding production plants on a routine basis, all of which we have a pre-existing and established commercial relationship. Notwithstanding the fact that our primary area of interest shall continue to be crude oil and refined petroleum, the majority of the refineries that we frequently engage with also retain the capacity to create vast quantities of the nitrogen fertilizer within the same facility. Thus, we will be able to capitalize upon these connections, whilst also benefiting from the excellent transportation links to logistical hubs that these sites possess. In response to the public disclosure of these plans, our Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Aleksandr Filyurin, delivered the following remarks:    

“Firstly, I would like to express my thanks to Igor and his team, who have worked so hard to set this up. I know that this particular industry is not his area of expertise, so he has had to work twice as hard to do all the research necessary before he can make the big decisions. Now, we are realistic about this, this is not going to become the largest area of our business any time soon. But we think that it is important to capitalize on the opportunity presented to us here. At the end of the day, when you are presented with a business proposal from someone that you have worked with for a long time, it would be naïve not to take time to think about it. We are one of the foremost traders in Russian oil products now, we have a great track record, and in the few years since we began commodity trading, we now report revenues in the billions each year. There is a reason why these companies want to work with us, to do business with us, it is because we always deliver great results. Okay, we are not planning on expanding into any new areas of business at this time, but we can still embrace all areas of petroleum trading, whether that is crude, or fertilizers or any of the types of oil-based product when the right proposal is presented to us. Ultimately, we have the financial resources and intellectual capabilities to take those chances, and I have the utmost confidence that this new venture will be a success.”   

Despite the fact that this scheme is yet to be fully implemented, our company is midway through executing a comprehensive strategy to ensure the viability of this project. Similarly to our trading division, our agrochemical interests are also to be based in New York, with our executive leadership concluding that the city will provide us with the infrastructure to expand this particular area of our interest in the years ahead. For instance, we are currently in the process of recruiting a director to lead this department, whilst simultaneously providing us with the expertise and commercial contacts to guarantee that this plan delivers the desired results. An announcement regarding this vacancy is expected in due course, with the chosen candidate set to market a range of products, such as urea and various grades of ammonia. With such compounds essential to this trade, we have been required to make additional investment to build the apparatus to make this program prosper. In spite of the fact that these expenditures are relatively nominal in comparison to the monies we expend in our petroleum and energy divisions, our management believes that expending further funds will not be necessary in the future, with our firm able to rely upon third parties instead. This is broadly similar to our existing marketing operations, which now create the majority of our global revenues, where Rusneftegaz works with an array of partners to deliver fuels to every corner of the world. Although these investments represent a risk on behalf of our corporation, it must be noted that this industry continues to grow rapidly, and there is an erstwhile belief amongst our directors that this can ultimately become a lucrative venture for our enterprise. Any queries pertaining to this matter, including any business inquiries for any goods mentioned in this article, should be submitted via the usual channels, namely by email or telephone. We necessitate your cooperation and understanding while this plan is executed.

Although we have previously published a number of warnings regarding attempts by criminals to deceive potential victims into believing that we sell our products through third parties, we are disappointed to disclose that the practice continues to be pervasive and ongoing. Whilst we continue to do our utmost to remove all fake product listings from the internet, we are still receiving regular inquiries asking us to verify the authenticity of files and other materials, all of which are forged. Such documents fraudulently utilize our name, branding, and reputation in an effort to appear authentic, despite the fact that we do not conduct business in this manner. In recent times, we have been sent wholly contrived invoices for tens of millions of tons of fuel in conjunction with doctored letterheads with falsified contact details. However, it should be noted that while this illegitimate paperwork is increasingly prevalent, there are no common factors with regard to the changes made. By way of illustration, we have seen instances whereby our official web address has not been amended, and others where it has been altered to a fictitious site with a similar domain name. We have also registered numerous cases in which telephone numbers and email addresses have been tampered with, primarily to ensure all communications are redirected to the felons and their accomplices. Thus, we ask the recipients of such messages to exercise caution before transmitting money or submitting sensitive data to these nefarious groups. 

​We can also once again reiterate that under no circumstances do we authorize intermediaries to advertise or sell our products on our behalf, and we have no intention of allowing these practices in the near or distant future. Prospective customers should always be wary of those who introduce themselves as a supposed “mandate” or “agent” of our organization, as such job titles do not exist within our company or the wider industry. Such scammers routinely claim to be capable of presenting formal offers to buyers, or extending discounts when certain quantities are purchased, when in fact such individuals do not possess this authority. Due to this prevailing risk, we maintain the capacity to verify anyone who claims to be associated with Rusneftegaz, and recommend that all those who hold suspicions contact us at their earliest convenience. We also strongly advise all potential crude or refined petroleum purchasers to do so via a recognized, regulated commodities exchange. Over the past two decades, we have recorded the majority of our sales through this medium, and we expect this practice to endure for many years to come. This is principally because arranging a settlement in such a manner ultimately guarantees that the goods are delivered to the specification required, while simultaneously mitigating opportunities for abuse to arise. 

All parties involved should be especially skeptical if there are apparent discrepancies with corporate identification numbers, bank account details, or the designated recipient of funds. Nonetheless, all those with misgivings regarding the legitimacy of someone claiming to represent us, or the contents of any files or messages from said sender, should communicate their concerns to our fraud prevention officer as soon as possible. This is particularly acute when a commercial offer has been received and a monetary transfer may occur imminently. While we do our utmost to prevent these offenses from ever occurring, we are heavily reliant upon the vigilance and tenacity of victims to report these schemes before the possibility of significant financial losses arises. Although it is crucial that we are informed of all such infractions perpetuated in our name, it is perhaps even more critical that the relevant law enforcement authorities are alerted at the same time. We uphold a robust working relationship with all the major local and national agencies in the Russian Federation to ensure that this type of law-breaking is reduced in the future. In spite of the fact that such deceptions are rare, it remains a recurring threat to all those who trade in this sector. If anyone reading this bulletin has been a victim of any crime described in this article committed in the name of our entity, we urge you to contact us immediately to commence an investigation accordingly. We necessitate your cooperation and understanding with this pressing matter.