OREANDA-NEWS. March 16, 2009. Karachaganak Petroleum Operating B.V. (KPO) announced today that 19 local employees of the company have successfully completed a certified programme in management, delivered by the UK Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM), reported the press-centre of KPO.

KPO General Director, Roger Fox said: “At Karachaganak we aim to share our knowledge and expertise with our Kazakh colleagues, partners and contractors. Capacity building through sustainable development and skills transfer are central to the way we work.

“We have put in place long term development programmes and we are pushing forward with our nationalisation agenda. Since signing the FPSA, KPO has invested over US96 million in training and development initiatives. Currently, 44 per cent of managerial positions at KPO are held by nationals and 85 per cent of professional and supervisory positions”, added Roger Fox.

Mary Brooks ILM Programme Director, said: “The ILM course complements the on-the-job technical training that KPO provides to its local personnel, as part of the Nationalisation Programme. I am confident that the development of management skills will increase the professional competence of the participants of the programme and, as a result, will accelerate the development of their careers within KPO”.

KPO has also commenced the Production Operators and Maintenance Technicians Professional Development Programme which is based on UK Oil & Gas Academy’s Modern Apprenticeship Scheme (OPITO) and KPO is the first company in the CIS to run this kind of OPITO certified training. To date, 74 students have graduated from the theoretical component of the programme and are now receiving ‘on the job’ training at Karachaganak, while another 27 are currently completing their theoretical studies.

In addition, 19 KPO employees have received the internationally recognised National Examining Board for Occupational Safety and Health (NEBOSH) certificate. To date some 80 national KPO staff holds this prestigious qualification. In addition to formal education, KPO also utilises ‘on the job’ training and parent company placements. On the whole, in 2008, KPO delivered 212,924 hours of training to 9,561 Kazakhstani staff.