New health centre, stadium and swimming pool: NKNK shares plans for billions of investments in Nizhnekamsk

Medicine and social security

Nizhnekamskneftekhim PJSC and TAIF Group in general have always paid great attention to health and quality of health care received by Nizhnekamsk citizens. In 2019, according to an agreement between the Tatarstan Ministry of Health and the city administration, NKNK did major repairs in two departments, including Surgery in the Nizhnekamsk Central Regional Municipal Hospital. The investments totalled 120 million rubles.

Last August, a burns unit opened in the Nizhnekamsk Central Regional Multidisciplinary Hospital. With TAIF Group’s approval, Nizhnekamskneftekhim allocated 113 million rubles to create and equip two wards: two burn recovery beds and ventilators in Intensive Care Unit and four burn recovery beds in Surgery. The special beds are equipped with devices for aeration, which helps burnt skin recover. Director General of TAIF JSC, Chairman of Nizhnekamskneftekhim PJSC Board of Directors Ruslan Shigabutdinov handed over a symbolic key to the chief doctor. Nizhnekamsk got a chance of providing emergency care and caring about patients even with extensive burns.

Over 220 million rubles were invested in the major overhaul and reequipment of Nizhnekamskneftekhim’s Polyclinic No. 1. The latest medical equipment was purchased as well: universal digital Examion X-ray equipment, GE Logiq S7 Expert, IT equipment — devices, software and so on. All this allows doing almost a complete examination and providing patients with quality treatment. And their health care establishment services over 30,000 people, including 11,000 NKNK veterans. Together with Sogaz insurance company, there were purchased two mobile intensive care ambulances and an ambulance for a general practitioner, and they were given to the polyclinic.

Director General of Nizhnekamskneftekhim PJSC Ayrat Safin stresses that the enterprise has a unique social support programme for veterans:

“It doesn’t matter how long a person worked in the enterprise for and when he retired. He maintains the status as NKNK veteran and is provided with our social security, including voluntary health insurance, the trade union’s tours and treatment. Few enterprises even among the moguls provide their veterans with voluntary health insurance. And few companies are ready to take on the construction and equipment of a new multidisciplinary health centre designed for not only a 30,000-army of workers of TAIF Group’s companies in Nizhnekamsk, including Nizhnekamskneftekhim PJSC but also all citizens of Nizhnekamsk. The total sum of investments in this project is planned to be 5 billion rubles.”

“Unfortunately, the provision of quality health care in Nizhnekamsk leaves a lot to be desired. This is why TAIF Group’s management made a decision to build a new health centre in Nizhnekamsk, It isn’t an alternative to existing health care establishments. Nizhnekamsk has the Central Regional Municipal Hospital, the construction of a branch of the Republican Clinical Cancer Centre will end soon in Chelny. They all will work complementing each other. The discussion of the project with the Tatarstan Ministry of Health and Nizhnekamsk City Health Care Administration is over. The number of beds and areas of activity were determined — early cancer detection, therapy, cardiology, prevention and treatment for professional diseases, neurology, surgery, ophthalmology, urology, a burns unit. It will be a modern world-class centre equipped according to the world’s latest health standards. The health terms of reference are already elaborated together with the world’s leaders in medical equipment manufacturing. Nizhnekamsk’s administration has already chosen a plot to build the health centre in Lesnaya Street, and we are starting design and survey works. Moreover, to invite specialists to the city, it is planned to build three blocks of flats with a kindergarten. About 2 billion rubles will be allocated for these purposes,” Ayrat Safin specified the plans mentioned earlier.

New collective agreement plans to expand

Medical insurance is just a part of the social package designed for every Nizhnekamskneftekhim worker. The biggest trade union of the country’s oil, gas and chemical complex defends rights of the enterprise’s employees. TAIF Group’s trade union in Nizhnekamsk has over 30,000 members. Commitments of the employer and rights of the workers are explained in the collective agreement. This year a new version of the document will be signed at Nizhnekamskneftekhim. It is being created now, and as Ayrat Safin said, the agreement would not only save all current social guarantees but also significantly expand their list.

Nizhnekamskneftekhim PJSC as well as other companies of TAIF Group is an active participant in housing programmes. Moreover, 44% of the complex’s staff are young people under 35 years.

“150-200 NKNK workers give a housewarming party a year. As soon as we raised salaries in February, the number of people who wanted to line up to improve their living conditions increased. The opportunity of having their own flat is very important for every family, especially a young one. Avers Bank is now providing very good terms — a 6,5% mortgage. However, Nizhnekamsk almost doesn’t have new builds. Only the State Housing Fund’s houses are new. Unfortunately, as things stand now, we still can’t receive the flats we had already paid the State Housing Fund for,” the NKNK director general said.

Nizhnekamskneftekhim is an active participant in all programmes and events of the city

No social, charity event or big project in Nizhnekamsk can do without NKNK. Neftekhimik search party has been working on battlefields of the Great Patriotic War for 20 years already recovering the history and returning soldiers who went missing from oblivion. This work will go on unless the last dead hero is found and buried with honours. An office of the search party that recently opened where real relics from battlefields are exhibited help to save the memory for the next generations.

With TAIF Group’s approval, Nizhnekamskneftekhim annually participates in the campaign Help Go to School. NKNK established business relations with educational establishments of the city a long time ago:

“We are patrons of probably all educational establishments of Nizhnekamsk: schools, colleges, Nizhnekamsk Chemical Technological Institute. Each of our subdivision is responsible for an educational establishment, and they constantly receive help in purchasing furniture, office equipment, repairs. This work has been done for decades already. This has always been this way because Nizhnekamsk itself was built by Nizhnekamskneftekhim,” the director general of Nizhnekamskneftekhim PJSC stressed.

The transport enterprise of Nizhnekamskneftekhim PJSC is one of the biggest in the republic. It consists of more than a thousand pieces of machinery, including 150 shuttles. They deliver the workers of enterprises of the complex to work and back around the clock. The routes cover almost whole Nizhnekamsk and the industrial site, which workers of other enterprises take advantage of as well.

As Ayrat Safin said, the route to Shipbuilding Grove health resort is in demand from not only the staff of the health resort and The Youth and The Olympian children’s camps but also gardeners who take the shuttles to get to their allotments. Before the pandemic, the management of the facility wasn’t against it. Due to the unfavourable situation because of the COVID-19 epidemic, transportation rules had to be tightened, while buses had to be thoroughly disinfected before and after. Nizhnekamskneftekhim voluntarily took on the job on disinfection of more than 40 bus stops in the city. And this is one of the factors that helped reduce the risk of infecting. During the self-isolation period, food baskets were regularly delivered to those who needed them.

“We probably didn’t seek publicity very much but we did it on a regular basis. And people know this. There was created a call centre in the trade union, which is still working today. The veterans of the PJSC and simply citizens called, turned to it, asked questions, voiced requests. We helped: we gave advice on how to seek a doctor’s advice, where medication was in stock. We delivered food baskets to the elderly on request. It doesn’t matter if they worked here or not. It is our people,” Safin shared.

When it was made a decision to end the academic year remotely, with the support of shareholders and management of TAIF Group, Nizhnekamskneftekhim found money to buy tablets and hand them over to large families for free so that children could study.

Social and sports venues

Today Petrochemists’ Park, which was founded in 2006 and solemnly opened in 2011, which was a jubilee year for Nizhnekamsk, is one of the favourite sites for walks and family time. The N. Lemayev Square opened in 2017, Nizhnekamskneftekhim invested 60 million rubles in its reconstruction. The company spent another 40 million to put pedestrian zones near Neftekhim Arena ice palace in order. Together with the beautification of the transformed embankment, reconstruction of main roads and courtyard roads, Nizhnekamskneftekhim allocated 525 million rubles to develop the social infrastructure from 2014 to 2019.

A solemn opening of the reconstructed stadium will take place soon. The stadium built in 1987 didn’t meet modern requirements anymore. Moreover, Neftekhim football team that successfully performs in the Football National League needed its own site for training and home matches.

“The funding is about 400 million rubles. It is done by all standards of the Russian Football Union. It accommodates 3,100 spectators. Nizhnekamsk has never had such a stadium. After big, large-scale, great reconstruction it is close to Kazan Arena stadium when in terms of its technical level. Today it is the republic’s second-best stadium. The Central Stadium has a bigger seating capacity of course, but our stadium is much better regarding the grass, stands, equipment. The grass is artificial. It is done according to all requirements and technology of world standards,” Ayrat Safin said.

Professional growth of the Nizhnekamsk team that wants to reach the next division requires a corresponding attitude of the title sponsor. Nizhnekamskneftekhim plans to make fans of elite sport glad with another venue:

“The concept of construction of a new 10,000-seat stadium is now elaborated. Nizhnekamsk is a big city, while Neftekhimik is a club that actively aspires to new victories. By the Russian Football Union’s standards, a stadium with a seating capacity of at least 10,000 seats is necessary to host Premier League matches. Nowadays the city administration is choosing a site to build this venue. The stadium will include a football academy and all necessary infrastructure. The issue is under control of President of the club Timur Shigabutdinov. It is planned to build the stadium as public and private partnership. The form is discussed at the level of the republic and the Russian Football Union, but it is already known that its value will be around 3 billion rubles,” Ayrat Safin said.

The construction of professional venues is the groundwork for boys and probably girls who are just learning to possess the ball in Nizhnekamsk children and youth sports schools. By the way, Nizhnekamskneftekhim is the patron of 18 schools, including Neftekhimik football school that will open soon, a football venue, and indoor football venue built within a republican sports venues construction programme within the celebration of the 100^th Anniversary of the TASSR will solemnly open in late August. The area will be over 5,500 square metres. The pitch suitable for year-round training will be 90x45 metres. There will also be built an administrative building with four changing rooms.

Nizhnekamskn’s map already has room for another big sports venue. A 50-metre swimming pool is planned to be built near Vakhitovo Ring.

“Nizhnekamskneftekhim is elaborating the construction of the swimming pool together with President of Sintez Aquatic Sports Club from Kazan Irek Zinnurov. It is a federal project. There is support from the Tatarstan Investment Development Agency and the Ministry of Sport. And there is an understanding that we will meet the requirements of the Russian Ministry of Sport and can count on up to 50% of co-financing from the federal budget. The estimated value of the venue is almost a billion,” the director general of Nizhnekamskneftekhim PJSC said.

Nizhnekamskneftekhim PJSC is the patron of two ice palaces, Neftekhimik football and hockey clubs, children and youth football and hockey sports schools, which are a source of manpower for professional teams. Half of the players of both Neftekhimik teams are students of local schools. Young athletes who were brought up in Nizhnekamsk are in demand in the future and realise their potential at other clubs. Moreover, not only in Russia. NKNK is responsible for the city’s unique 25-metre swimming pool, which is located in Friendship sports venue. Almash ski base where Nizhnekamsk athletes from the national team of Russia train is also supported by Nizhnekamskneftekhim. Moreover, the petrochemists are patrons of Torch sports venue for weightlifting, athletics, volleyball, gymnastics, all types of wrestling. NKNK supports the MMA class and has already supported several big Russian events where Nizhnekamsk athletes performed quite well.

“We can say for sure that all sport in Nizhnekamsk is under the auspices of NKNK, TAIF Group, Neftekhimik sports clubs. When somebody says that an ice rink was built in a courtyard for 12 million, we say: “Well done!” And without making it public we keep allocating almost 400 million rubles a year to maintain sports venues of children and youth sports schools. And it is almost the whole city, whole children and youth sport. Moreover, on Board Chairman, Director General of TAIF Ruslan Shigabutduniov’s instruction, the old abandoned shooting range was repaired, modernised, and a modern one was built instead. Some experts consider this shooting range the best in the Volga region nowadays,” Ayrat Safin said.

Life sustaining systems

NKNK saved the traditions of construction and improvement of Nizhnekamsk founded in the 60s of the past century. Blocks of flats, social facilities, roads, parks, squares and many other venues were erected with public money only in the Soviet Union, and nowadays Nizhnekamskneftekhim itself invests billions of rubles in the future of its native city, creation of comforts for each citizen with the support of TAIF Group.

Water in the republic’s third-biggest city was supplied via water pipelines from neighbouring Naberezhnye Chelny just 20 years ago, which are as old as Nizhnekamsk itself. They are old, covered with rust, obsolete. And precisely Nizhnekamskneftkehim took on the main burden of issues to provide Nizhnekamsk with clean potable water in 2001 despite the tough times for the industry and economy of the country. The construction of the Water Treatment Plant ended in 2007. The arrival of Mintimer Shaimiyev (then-president of Tatarstan) and Sergey Ivanov (first vice-chairman of the Russian government in 2001) at the ceremony stresses the importance of the launch of such a plant.

The plant equipped with the latest technology provides the highest water treatment level. Nizhnekamskneftekhim took on the service and maintenance of the whole equipment in reliable operation again. Coal filters were recently replaced (they total 12 in the plant). The value is almost 150 million rubles. But here Nizhnekamsk citizens’ health is at stake, and TAIF doesn’t skimp on it.

“When the NKNK Water Treatment Plant was put into operation, the number of intestine infections reduced by some 30%. Water improved not only in terms of safety but also in composition. All beneficial microelements water remained. The same filters (Editor’s Note: those used at home) that are offered today provide in fact distilled water: they don’t have salts, they have nothing. It is bad for the organism. While this water can be drunk without prior boiling. It is safe,” Director of the regional office of Tatarstan Rospotrebnadzor, the consumer rights protection watchdog, in Nizhnekamsk District and Nizhnekamsk Rustem Iziyatullin said in one of the interviews with Realnoe Vremya.

Water drainage and quality treatment of sewage are no less important. Biological treatment facilities that receive sewage not only from the industrial site but also from the whole city were built in Nizhnekamsk as early as in 1966. Over this time, the equipment became obsolete and didn’t perform the tasks it was given well. In 2016, with the approval and full support of shareholders and management of TAIF Group, Nizhnekamskneftekhim started one of the biggest social projects in the history of Nizhnekamsk — reconstruction of Biological Treatment Facilities. The works were done in two stages. The first one ended in the autumn of 2016. The second stage of the reconstruction was completed in the summer of 2019. Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov and Director General of TAIF JSC Ruslan Shigabutdinov participated in the solemn launching ceremony of the BTF.

“The compliance with environmental requirements and rules has always been one of the priorities in the business of TAIF Group and NKNK PJSC. There can’t be doubts that environmental costs are necessary. It is the first tasks of the factory, shareholders to meet all environmental rules,” Ruslan Shigabutdunov stressed during the ceremony.

“TAIF Group invested over 3 billion rubles in the construction and reconstruction of treatment facilities,” Director General of Nizhnekamskneftekhim PJSC Ayrat Safin told Realnoe Vremya. And it is reasonable investments because the BTF operates in whole Nizhnekamsk. A closed system and reliable vapour recovery completely excluded unpleasant smells on the territory of the treatment facilities, which citizens of Nizhnekamsk complained about just recently. It is an interesting moment that water treated in the BTF and ends up in the Kama River is purer than water taken from the water body for production.

So in its 50-year history, the petrochemical company has never lost the leading positions, stopped supporting and providing social security to the staff of thousands of people and implementing global projects for the whole city despite different times.