Sovcomflot’s 16th annual Business Partners Meeting held in Moscow
On 23-24 May 2017, SCF Group (PAO Sovcomflot) held its 16th annual Business Partners Meeting, which this year took place in Moscow.
Sovcomflot says about 200 delegates attended, from organisations including: major Russian and international oil & gas companies; Russian ministries and governmental agencies; investment and finance; insurance, legal and other specialists participated in the conference's events.
The conference’s plenary session featured presentations by: Sergey Ivanov, Special Presidential Representative for Environmental Protection, Ecology and Transport; Kirill Molodtsov, Russia’s Deputy Minister of Energy; Dmitry Kobylkin, Governor of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District; Jacques de Boisséson, General Director of Total E&P Russie and General Representative of Total in Russia; Igor Bulantsev, Senior Vice-president of Sberbank, Head of Sberbank CIB.
Maxim Oreshkin, Russia’s Minister of Economic Development, sent a special address to welcome the conference delegates.
The meeting programme also included reports from industry experts such as Jørn Bakkelund, Senior Analyst at Clarksons Platou, and Jarand Rystad, Managing Partner of Rystad Energy.
The conference delegates focused on global tanker market trends, the dynamics of oil and other energy pricing, and the prospects for new oil and gas project implementation, including those that involve SCF Group. Special attention was paid to the development of "green" technologies in commercial shipping, and the new international requirements for vessels to comply with strict environmental standards.
In his address to the conference delegates, Sergey Ivanov stressed that for many years Sovcomflot “Has been working hard to develop business streams previously unknown for Russian shipping, has been expanding its fleet, and improving the qualitative indicators of its vessels”. The result of this work, according to Sergey Ivanov, has been to take leading positions in several segments of the energy shipping market, as well as in servicing offshore exploration and oil & gas production.
In his report Sergey Ivanov paid special attention to environmental protection issues. Considering the risks of operating fleet in the Arctic Basin, and taking into account the fragile nature of the Arctic ecosystem, the Russian State requires all companies operating in the Arctic to unconditionally comply with strict environmental standards, possess an appropriate competence level, and demonstrate high levels of social responsibility. “In this sense Sovcomflot, whose key priorities have traditionally been safety, the introduction of advanced technologies, environmental protection and energy efficiency, complies with all these criteria,” said Sergey Ivanov. He also noted a significant contribution from the shipping company to the development of professional Russian maritime education.
Maxim Oreshkin, Russia’s Minister of Economic Development, said in his welcome address: “Sovcomflot successfully achieved the objectives set for the company by its shareholder. The company steadily delivers positive operational and financial results despite a significant slowdown of the world tanker market.”
“The Russian Government and the Ministry of Economic Development give the company priority in integrated servicing of offshore oil & gas projects on the Russian shelf, with a special focus on operations in the adverse climatic conditions of the Arctic and Subarctic seas. As part of Russia’s policy for the development of the Arctic zone, major investments are being made into the development of offshore energy deposits and the modernisation of transport infrastructure. For its part, SCF Group of course makes considerable contributions to this process”, stressed the minister.
Dmitry Kobylkin, Governor of Yamal, said that the active commercial development of Yamal centres on the environmental safety of all processes. He commended Sovcomflot for meeting high environmental standards when constructing new vessels for operation in harsh climatic conditions, with “green” technologies incorporated in the vessel design. “It is extremely important not only for Yamal, Russia but also for a whole world”, said the governor.
