Three days ago, Rusneftegaz celebrated the achievements of our staff throughout the last year by bestowing awards upon worthy winners at an event held virtually. As a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, a formal ceremony in Moscow was again eschewed, with prizes being distributed by the contemporaries of those selected for accolades instead of executives. All the individuals chosen for recognition were nominated by both their colleagues and managers in appreciation of their hard work or outstanding contribution to our enterprise over the last twelve months. Foremost, the management board elected to present twenty members of our team with special commendations for their remarkable work over the past year, which was compounded by the difficulties and inconveniences of our disease mitigation policies. Such a large total is unprecedented in our corporate history, with most such rewards typically being granted for long service or noteworthy feats. For instance, five of our personnel have been recognized for assuming extraordinary workloads while their peers were in quarantine, with our company doctor, Leonid Balakin, also honored for his exceptional performance over the past eighteen months. At the end of the night, our Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Aleksandr Filyurin, delivered the following remarks:
“The board and I would like to place on record our congratulations to all the award winners. We continue to be amazed by what our staff are willing to do to help Rusneftegaz, especially considering the tough year we have faced. Understandably, there have been many challenges this year, but as a team we have faced them, and we are better because of it. Speaking from a personal perspective, I am very proud of what we have managed to achieve despite these challenges, and I think we will see the rewards of this next year. I, along with all the people I have been speaking to, have started to see the light at the end of the tunnel of this pandemic. Obviously, there are a lot of caveats, and I am not a medical expert, but I can see lots of reasons to be optimistic about next year. In an ideal scenario, we will be able to put all our existing plans back into motion and continue as if none of this ever happened. The board and I are working very hard to be prepared if that is the case, so that we are ready to get back to normal and continue to realize our ambitions to become one of the largest companies in the world.”
The main winners of the evening were Oleg Patrushev and Eduard Kopeykin, who were named employee and young employee of the year, respectively. The judges looked particularly favorably upon the accomplishments of the former when he had to unexpectedly lead a team of fellow engineers to urgently fix a major fault at one of our production sites. Similarly, the latter finished an admirable second in his class at the end of the academic year, in spite of a family tragedy having a significant impact on his studies. As an organization, we hope that this recognition will inspire all recipients to strive to attain even greater success, and we will endeavor to continue acknowledging the efforts of all our workers. It is important to note that although this function was held remotely, all appropriate coronavirus prevention procedures were adhered to as the prizes were presented. However, we are broadly optimistic that next year we will be able to arrange for this occasion to be held with all attendees present in Moscow, as current and continuing circumstances have determined that such an event has not taken place in person since 2019. Regardless of whether this happens, we shall always be grateful to all our staff for what we are forecasting to be another twelve months of prosperity.
