OREANDA-NEWS. This year’s St Petersburg International Economic Forum has seen Gazprom Neft enter into a social and economic partnership agreement with the Government of the Orenburg Oblast, to run from 2017 through 2019. The agreement was signed by Gazprom Neft CEO Alexander Dyukov and Orenburg Oblast Governor Yuri Berg.

Gazprom Neft CEO Alexander Dyukov and Orenburg Oblast Governor Yuri Berg have signed an agreement on social and economic partnership at this year’s St Petersburg International Economic Forum, expected to run from 2017 through 2019.

The agreement envisages both parties engaging in investment projects and social initiatives throughout the Orenburg Oblast, as well as support for Gazprom Neft’s initiatives in the implementation of cutting-edge and ecological technologies in hydrocarbon production.

Gazprom Neft is also working with the Orenburg Oblast on import substitution. Gazpromneft Lubricants — operator of the Gazpromneft Lubricants business — supplied approximately 320 tonnes of Gazprom Neft and G-energy branded products to enterprises throughout Orenburg and the Orenburg Oblast in 2015 — a figure expected to increase by 10–15 percent in 2016. The implementation of this import-substitution programme has, according to expert analysis, achieved savings of up to 15 percent for the regional budget in the purchase of petroleum products and lubricants, across a range of sectors.

Under its “Home Towns” corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme Gazprom Neft, together with the Government of the Orenburg Oblast, is refurbishing a number of social facilities including schools, hospitals, kindergartens, sports facilities and recreational grounds. The company sponsors a number of sporting events, as well as supporting educational and cultural initiatives throughout the region. The Home Towns grant-award competition is also ongoing, directed at supporting the best projects from community and local organisations and local government and non-commercial organisations.

Alexander Dyukov, CEO, Gazprom Neft, commented: “The Orenburg region remains one of the fastest-growing energy companies in the Orenburg Oblast, with the company increasing hydrocarbon production by 17 percent in 2015. The signing of this partnership agreement will allow us to further expand our activities in the region. Gazprom Neft is also continuing the implementation of its Home Towns CSR project, directed at improving quality of life in the Orenburg Oblast, believing social investment to be integral to the region’s industrial and economic development.”

Orenburg Oblast Governor Yuri Berg, on signing the agreement, added: “Orenburg is a flagship in implementing social-partnership projects — a means of cooperation that has become an effective instrument in implementing social policy throughout the region. The Government of the Orenburg Oblast and Gazprom Neft have been able establish a high level of mutual trust, with the company involved in some of the most important social initiatives throughout those areas in which it operates. This new long-term agreement reflects our mutual commitment to further expanding our mutually beneficial partnership in both investment and social programmes.”

The Gazprom Neft “Home Towns” project brings together the company’s various CSR initiatives and projects throughout those regions in which it has a presence. Directed at developing the full social and economic potential of these regions, as well as at improving quality of life, the programme includes initiatives for neighbourhood enhancement, for the development of children’s and public sports facilities, and initiatives in education, health, and in preserving and supporting the culture of the indigenous populations of the Russian Far North.

Between 2014 and 2016 more than 160 CSR initiatives, involving a total investment of RUB342 million, have been implemented throughout the Orenburg Oblast under the Home Towns programme. These initiatives include the construction of eight children’s and multi-functional sports facilities, support for three medical facilities, and the refurbishment of 17 educational institutions and five creative centres.

Gazpromneft Orenburg operates across four regions of the Orenburg Oblast — the Orenburg, Novosergiyevsky, Perevolotsky and Sorochinsky districts. The majority of the company’s activities in hydrocarbon production are concentrated in the eastern block of the Orenburgsky oil-and-gas-condensate field, and the Tsarichanskoye and Filatovskoye fields. The company is also developing the Kapitonovskoye and Baleykinskoye fields.

In 2014 Gazprom Neft and the Government of the Orenburg Oblast entered into an agreement on the implementation of an investment programme to develop the Eastern part of the Orenburg oil-and-gas-condensate field between 2013 and 2022, with Gazprom Neft as operator. The project envisages total investment of more than RUB50 billion.