OREANDA-NEWS. Bashneft's President Alexander Korsik and the Governor of the Orenburg Region Yury Berg signed a Protocol for 2015 to the Agreement on Social and Economic Development between the Company and the Government of the Region.

In accordance with the document, this year Bashneft will continue to implement social projects in the Orenburg Region worth a total of up to 20 million roubles. Part of the funds will be allocated for supporting infrastructure, educational and cultural projects in the Alexandrovsky, Oktyabrsky, Perevolotsky and Orenburgsky Districts, where the Company produces oil.

'The document that we have signed reflects the high level of cooperation between the Company and the Government of the Orenburg Region in the sphere of social and economic development of the region,' commented Alexander Korsik. 'As a large investor in the economy of the Orenburg Region, we greatly appreciate the local government's efforts aimed at creating a favourable environment for the Company's investing activities and operations.'

'The government of the Region and Bashneft enjoy a harmonious business relationship based on mutual understanding,' emphasized Yury Berg. "The Company demonstrates a high level of social responsibility in the region, and our meetings at the beginning of the year in order to sign a new Protocol to the Agreement are becoming a fine tradition providing the territories with new impetus for social and economic development.'

Note: In the Orenburg Region, Bashneft conducts business in the sphere of oil production and sales of petroleum products. The Orenburg regional office of LLC Bashneft-Retail Sales is one of the region's leading suppliers of petroleum products.

LLC Bashneft-Dobycha conducts upstream operations at the Kitayamsko-Blagodarovskiy and Dachno-Repinskiy licence areas in the Orenburg Region. In 2014 the project to drill new wells and construct field facilities at the Dachno-Repinskoye oilfield was included in the list of high-priority investment projects in the region. With support from the Government of the Orenburg Region, in the future Bashneft plans to boost oil production in the region and to increase tax payments to the local budget.

Charitable projects implemented by Bashneft in the Orenburg Region in 2014 include renovation of a secondary school in the village of Marksovsky and the Leisure Centre in the village of Dmitrievka in the Alexandrovsky District; renovation of the Skazka nursery school, the Repinskaya and Arkhangelskaya schools in the Orenburgsky District; construction of the Walk of Fame in the Oktyabrsky District; construction of hockey pitches in the Perevolotsky District; purchase of equipment for regional health care institutions.