OREANDA-NEWS. November 27, 2012. Today at the Gazprom headquarters Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Company's Management Committee and Vladimir Kovalchuk, Chairman of the Gazprom Interregional Trade Union (ITU) signed the General Collective Agreement of Gazprom and its subsidiary companies for 2013 to 2015.

The Agreement governs the relations between the employees and the employer within the of social partnership system established in Gazprom. Particularly, it determines allowances, guarantees and compensations provided by the Company to its employees, including health care. Special attention in the document is given to labor protection.

The General Collective Agreement covers the employees of the Company and its fully-owned subsidiaries engaged in natural gas production, transportation, processing, storage and marketing, as well as the employees of the Company's Interregional Trade Union Council and trade unions of subsidiary companies.

“Gazprom's success is due to the efforts given by each and every employee of our Company. A close-knit and highly qualified team able to perform the tasks of any difficulty is our honor and the main strategic advantage in the tough competition for global leadership.

That is why we pay great attention to providing a decent level of social security for the Company's employees. The General Collective Agreement is the main document in this undertaking,” Alexey Miller said.

Background

The General Collective Agreement of Gazprom and its subsidiary companies for 2013 to 2015 was developed due to the expiry of the General Collective Agreement for 2010 to 2012. The new Agreement was approved at the Gazprom Employees' Conference on November 23, 2012.

The key objective of the General Collective Agreement is balancing the interests of the employer and the employees in the form of a social partnership and, provided there is financial capacity, granting a broader scope of guarantees, allowances and compensations to the employees than stipulated by the Russian laws, other legal acts and the Gas Industry Agreement.

The General Collective Agreement of Gazprom and its subsidiary companies for 2013 to 2015 complies with the clauses of the General Agreement of Russian trade unions, employer associations and the Russian Federation Government for 2011 to 2013 and the Industry Agreement for Oil and Gas Industry Organizations and Construction of Oil and Gas Facilities in the Russian Federation for 2011 to 2013.