ANK Bashneft' PAO : Bashneft and the Skolkovo Foundation sign a Strategic Cooperation Agreement

Bashneft and the Skolkovo Foundation sign a Strategic Cooperation Agreement

July 13, 2016. Moscow, Russia.
- Today, PJSOC Bashneft and the Skolkovo Foundation have signed a Strategic Cooperation Agreement. The aim of the Agreement is to promote research and technical cooperation in the development and implementation of innovative and competitive Russian equipment and technologies.

'Our company is committed to remaining a leader in the Russian oil industry and promoting steady improvement of its operational and financial performance,' emphasized Bashneft's President Alexander Korsik. 'The signing of the Strategic Cooperation Agreement with the Skolkovo Foundation provides us with new opportunities for efficient search for innovative technologies and their practical application in our operations.'

'It is a well-known fact that framework agreements are often a kind of declaration of intent; but as far as today's event is concerned, this is clearly not the case,' commented Victor Vekselberg, President of the Skolkovo Foundation. 'It would be more accurate to say that the document that we have signed formalizes existing mechanisms of cooperation between the Skolkovo Foundation and Bashneft. We have been collaborating on the development of new technologies for oil production and refining for two years. I believe that the signing of this Agreement will add considerable impetus to this crucial work.'

Under the Agreement, Bashneft and the Skolkovo Foundation will work in strategic partnership on technologies in the sphere of industrial and environmental safety, technologies for reducing geological risks and improving the efficiency of geological exploration, building up hydrocarbon reserves and boosting oil production. In addition, the parties will promote cooperation on technologies for improving petroleum product quality and operational efficiency of refineries and petrochemical facilities, on state-of-the-art information systems for production process management, and technologies enabling energy conservation and efficient use of energy resources.

In 2015 and 2016 the Skolkovo Innovation Centre hosted Bashneft's Open Innovation Days, where resident companies of the Foundation presented innovative oil and gas technologies to technical experts. Following detailed discussion and assessment of technological innovations by industry experts, Bashneft drew up a programme of pilot tests for a number of samples of new equipment and technologies developed by resident companies of the Foundation.