OREANDA-NEWS. November 02, 2011. The welders of TATNEFT once again showed excellent results at the welders' contest of Russia held in Ufa, Bashkortostan, reported the press-centre of TATNEFT.

The contest for the title of "Best Welder of Russia" organized by the National Agency for the control and welding of Russia with the support of Rostechnadzor is held annually in the framework of the international welding forum, which includes concurrent holding of international scientific conferences and a specialized exhibition "Welding and control."

The purpose of the activities arranged is the study and manufacturing application of advanced welding techniques, equipment, materials, methods and control tools, as well as upgrading the skills and craftsmanship of welders.

The contest was attended by 53 welders from different regions of Russia. The contests were held in four categories of welding: manual arc welding (MA), manual argon arc welding (MAA), mechanized carbon dioxide shielded welding (MCD) and acetylene welding (A).

The following aspects were taken into account when assessing the professional skill: observance of the labor protection rules, worksite preparation, product assembly quality, welding duration, weld seam quality based on visual measurements and X-ray inspection results, as well as the knowledge of the welding engineering theory.

As a result of the contest in the largest category "Manual arc welding" (23 participants) the 1st place was won by A. Sosenkov (NGDU "Elkhovneft"), the 2nd was conferred to E. Vladimirov (OOO "Neftegaz" of "Glavneftegazstroyservis" Management Company), S. Il'in (NGDU "Yamashneft") ranked the 3rd, while the 4th and the 5th places went to I. Garayev and A.D Tuleuov (NGDU "Jalilneft").

In the category "Mechanized carbon dioxide shielded welding" the best results were shown by V. Karamzin (Bugulma Mechanical Plant of TATNEFT), the 2nd result was shown by A. Stepanov (OOO "Energokomplekt", Naberezhnye Chelny) and R. Mavlikaev (NIC "Inkomsistemy", Kazan) was the 3rd.

The welders having taken the first place in their categories were awarded the title of "Best Welder of Russia 2011". It is pleasant to note that V. Karamzin became a three-time champion, and the high quality of his welding had surprised even the jury members.

The third place was taken by R. Gilmiyarov, a welder of "TANEKO", in the category "Manual argon arc welding".

The team of Tatarstan convincingly proved that it was the best and won a challenge prize (MA - 1st, 2nd and 3rd places, MAA - 1st and 3rd places, and MCD - 1st, 2nd and 3rd places).

High skill of TATNEFT workers is ensured by constant attention of the Company to raise professionalism of its employees and especially the young people. More than forty years the Company has been arranging annual professional skills contests among the workers of major oil trades. Only young workers have been participating in this prestigious corporate contest in recent years. Production management schools are operating at the Executive Office and at the Company's enterprises, where the senior staff employees share their knowledge with young engineers. Open research-to-practice conferences are held each year under the auspices of the Youth Committee and the Young Professionals Board. These and other similar activities are aimed at ensuring high competitiveness of TATNEFT in today's market environment and laying a solid foundation for future development of the Company.