OREANDA-NEWS. Gazprom Neft and St Petersburg State University have confirmed the signing of a cooperation agreement on the development of educational facilities. Working closely with Russia's leading law school, the company is to co-finance the establishment of a specialist Master's degree programme on “Statutory Regulation of Environmental Management.”

Gazprom Neft Deputy CEO for Legal and Corporate Affairs Elena Ilyukhina and Acting Rector, St Petersburg State University, Marina Lavrikova sign the cooperation agreement.

Course content, developed by lecturers at St Petersburg State University together with Gazprom Neft professionals, includes practical sessions with a strong focus on real and current industry issues, as well as secondments to Gazprom Neft corporate headquarters and subsidiaries. The agreement also envisages the joint organisation of new, hands-on training courses, a competition (Olympiad) on subsoil resources management, and academic and practical workshops on the problems of enforcement. Gazprom Neft professionals will be involved in delivering lectures and leading practical tutorials for students at St Petersburg State University.

St Petersburg State University Rector Nikolay Kropachev commented: “We work hard to get major employers involved in the educational process here. Our academic board includes many senior executives from leading companies and enterprises, and they have a direct influence on the development of our educational standards and courses, in various disciplines. An employer's core task is to determine those key competencies young professionals (in possession of all appropriate knowledge and skills) should have on leaving university. The university's role is to prepare highly qualified graduates, in high demand on the labour market in five or six years' time.”

Deputy CEO for Legal and Corporate Affairs Elena Ilyukhina commented: “A good, strong team is vital in ensuring the fulfilment of Gazprom Neft's long-term plans: and promising young professionals play an essential role in this. It is for precisely that reason that we implement a range of carefully targeted programmes to allow the company to proactively engage in the development of educational standards, and to offer students a wide range of practical options - not just in the oil and gas sector, but in other areas vital to our business. We will continue developing educational programmes in all of the key regions in which we are active.”