Tatarstan oil companies’ “peace pipe”: “If something happens, we consult Lukoil”

Signing and award

Tatarstan has been developing cooperation with Lukoil Russian oil company for almost 10 years, and officials of the corporation arrive in Kazan every year without fail to agree on promising plans. Together with oil production, the oil company makes commitments to implement social, cultural and charity projects in the region.

First Executive Vice President of Lukoil Ravil Maganov, who comes from Tatarstan, arrived in Kazan on behalf of Lukoil’s top management. He was going to celebrate his 65^th jubilee on 25 September, and for this reason, he was awarded Friendship order.

“Mr Maganov is our compatriot, a real oil worker. Tomorrow he will be 65 years, and we have awarded him the Order of Friendship with great pleasure. Our oil workers can always turn to Lukoil, can always ask for advice,” Rustam Minnikhanov said after giving the award.

These words touched the older brother of Tatneft’s director general. Ravil Maganov admitted that he had been given state awards many times, including “Soviet ones”.

“But this is the most precious order because I am receiving it from my birthplace,” he got emotional.

And Maganov would probably be celebrating his birthday in his home region. Both speakers said time and again that the friendship with Lukoil would last forever.

Before the extension of the agreement on cooperation, the Tatarstan president was praising the oil holding on and on having called it “a strategic partner of Tatarstan in every sense of the word”.

“The company has very high technologies, it is up-to-date, and we carefully study a lot of technologies, developments of the company for oil production. Lukoil is our strategic partner, I hope our links will develop,” Minnikhanov said.

According to him, the volume of deals in the last four years has doubled and “the sky is the limit”. Later, Minister of Industry and Trade of the Republic of Tatarstan Albert Karimov specified for reference that the sales volume at Lukoil totalled 40 billion rubles. Last year the volume was 50 billion rubles.

President’s morning: Brent and ruble rate

Rustam Minnikhanov was very positive and constantly joked.

“If something happens, and I need to consult, I always call Mr Maganov. Call Lukoil,” he shared his “little secrets” of the oil business good-naturedly.

Generally speaking, stability in the oil industry matters for the president, and Minnikhanov constantly stays tuned for news on exchange.

“I check the Brent Crude price and the ruble rate every morning. The other news can wait,” he continued talking.

Lukoil asks for more Tatarstan oil

Ravil Maganov, in turn, claimed that Lukoil intended to expand its business not only in the retail sale of fuel in petrol stations but also in oil production.

“We have been working in Tatarstan for 20 years, we’ve constantly augmented production, our activity. We’ve produced over 1,2 million tonnes in the last years, we’ve worked in 19 fields. Today this issue has been discussed at the meeting with the president of the republic, and we ask to help us expand our business in oil production,” Ravil Maganov said after the meeting with Minnikhanov ended.

Lukoil keeps working in Tatarstan through its subsidiary — RITEK CJSC, which annually produces about a million tonnes of oil. The enterprise is considered as a small oil company. It wasn’t clarified how much RITEK would like to increase production. But given the exhaustion of Tatarstan fields and the hard oil production, it is difficult to consider these words as a signal for big investments.

On the other hand, Lukoil’s petrol stations in Tatarstan feel better than its oil production business. Today there is a chain of 36 petrol stations. According to Maganov, in oil products supply Lukoil constantly augments its chain, and today the company provides 16% of the sale of oil products in Tatarstan. He added that Lukoil planned to increase fuel sales in Tatarstan by 20%.

“There is growth in fuel sales, this year there will be 270-280,000 tonnes, it is by 20% more than last year,” Maganov said without doubt that the wishes would come true.

He admitted that the company always feels support in Tatarstan and the relations here were “always smooth”.