OREANDA-NEWS. June 01, 2007. On his tour of the Tomsk region, Sergey Ivanov, first deputy chairman of Russia's Government, visited Thursday Tomsk Electric Drive Manufacturer, a member of OJSOTC Transneft group, reported the press-centre of  Transneft.

S. Ivanov started his tour with a visit to the blanking shop. There the first vice prime minister was shown samples and blanks of products and an express laboratory for quality control of metal. Then he proceeded to a mechanical shop, where he saw electric drive sections, EDM units, tests on finished products.

The first vice-prime minister was also given a demonstration of a test bed for fire-fighting equipment of a petroleum refining facility.

During his tour of the manufacturing plant, S. Ivanov talked to some of the workers. Among other things, he asked them about the arrangements in place on the shop floor and the wages being paid. S. Ivanov also wanted to learn about the plant's manufacturing facilities; he asked a number of questions about what machine tools were used at the plant, how much these cost and when they were made.

One of the machine tools based on state-of-the-art laser technology was used to make a memento for S. Ivanov while he was watching: a metal plate engraved with the words "To First Deputy Chairman of Russian Government S.B. Ivanov in commemoration of his meeting with the team of Tomsk Electric Drive Manufacturer". Having given thanks for his gift, he qualified it by saying with a smile, "I wish there were fewer things of this nature and more bona fide products".
At the end of the tour, the first vice prime minister was given a demonstration of a test bed for electric drives of high capacity and shown a warehouse of finished products.

In addition, S. Ivanov visited the Tomsk Industrial Art College, which receives a great deal of attention from Transneft. The facility receives financial backing from the company to train blue and white collar workers for the oil pipeline sector.

The first vice premier visited a laboratory that is used to train instrumentation and electronics fitters, classrooms for hands-on training of electrical and gas welders, reviewed the operation of special-purpose mechanisms used to check the quality of welding.

S. Ivanov asked college students about their living conditions and academic activities, and teachers about the average age of college enrolees, the time it takes for them to become technicians, as well as their qualifications at entry level.

Out of the 580 students currently in training at the college, 27 enrolled in order to master a new profession, having already won higher education degrees in other fields. "This means that the State has been footing their education bills for five years to produce graduates with degrees worth 0.0," said S. Ivanov. He commented that when people came to study at that college, they were, for all intents and purposes, embarking on a new life by choosing another profession.

Based at the Tomsk State Industrial Art College, the HR centre to train workforce for the oil pipeline sector was set up in 2004 under a cooperation agreement between the region's administration and OJSOTC Transneft.

Some 6 thou. technicians are expected to be graduated by Transneft's centre to support the development of oil pipeline transport in eastern Russia. The Centre has already developed and coordinated academic curricula for 12 professions and specialist fields of basic oil pipeline operation personnel, as well as syllabi and study programmes for basic and refresher courses in 22 fields. It takes a year to master a new profession at the centre.