OREANDA-NEWS. August 23, 2013. A traditional regular annual professional skills contest of young workers of the leading trades of TATNEFT Production Group was held in Almetyevsk (Republic of Tatarstan).

The annual contest among the major trades of crude oil production was timed to the big and important day: the 70th anniversary of starting commercial development of the oil fields in Tatarstan.

Following the tradition the contest of professional skills among the major working specialties of crude oil production was held at the site of a TATNEFT's structural division, NGDU "Elkhovneft", which brought together the best young professionals, who had proved by their conscientious work and high skill the right to represent their enterprises at the main professional platform of the Company.

The opening ceremony of the contest was attended by Ildar Khalikov, Prime Minister of the Republic of Tatarstan, Shafagat Takhautdinov, CEO of the Company, Mazit Salikhov, Head of Almetyevsk Municipal District, Rishat Abubakirov, Deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, members of the Board of Directors and top managers of JSC TATNEFT, as well as heads of structural divisions and subsidiaries, and veterans of the oil industry.

Before the start of the contest, Ildar Khalikov, Prime Minister of Tatarstan, presented state awards to the employees of TATNEFT Production Group who had made a significant contribution to the development of the oil industry.

There were the results summed up of the contest for the best structural division of TATNEFT Production Group, which had demonstrated the best economic and financial results in 2012 and successfully fulfilled production and investment programsand by the other categories. The grand ceremony also included awarding the winners of the XXVIth Sport Games of TATNEFT Production Group enterprises, as well as the winners of the corporate media contest for 2012 and the ones of the review contest of health improvement camps of the divisions and subsidiaries of JSCTATNEFT in 2013.

The Cup won by the oilmen team of the Company at the world championship of the Labor Sports International Confederation was conferred to Shafagat Takhautdinov, General Director of TATNEFT Company.

The 2013 contest retained the best traditions of the professionals' competitions of the past years. At the contest grounds the participants competed in the contest categories "Best Crude Oil Production Team", "Best RPM Team", "Best Crude Oil Treatment Shift Team", "Best Well Remedial Servicing Crew", "Best Electric Welder," "Best Drilling Shift Team", "Best Workover Crew", "Best Instrumentation and Automation Mechanic", "Best Power Line Electrician", "Best Repair Electrician", "Best Troubleshooting Electrician", "Best Lathe Operator", "Best Driver ".

Like last year, the contest events were broadcast live on the TV "Luch" channel and via the internal corporate Intranet of JSC TATNEFT. The competitions were held at several contest venues, and videographers/ reporters were working at each of the sites offering the corporate portal users from different regions a possibility to watch live the competitions of different oil and related occupations representatives.

The professional skills contest has been held for the 43rd time this year. As a result of the contest the challenge cup and the honorable first place in the teams' competition were awarded to the team of NGDU "Elkhovneft", the 2nd place was awarded to the team of NGDU "Almetyevneft", and the team of NGDU "Yamashneft" ranked the third