Biological treatment facilities complex of ANK Bashneft PJSC (Rosneft subsidiary)

• GOALS AND MEANS
• COMPREHENSIVE PROGRAM FOR IMPROVING ENVIRONMENTAL EFFICIENCY
• PARTICIPATION IN ALL-RUSSIAN AND LOCAL ECOLOGICAL EVENTS
• INNOVATIONS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
• COMBATING CLIMATE CHANGE
• CONSERVATION OF BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY
• INTERACTION WITH SPECIALLY PROTECTED NATURAL TERRITORIES

GOALS AND MEANS

Caring for the environment is an integral part of the corporate culture and social responsibility of Rosneft, the leader of the Russian oil industry and the largest public oil and gas company in the world. The Company sees its main environmental protection (EP) task in effective management and minimizing the impact of its production activity on the environment, preservation of the environment for the benefit of today’s and future generation.

The company conducts, on a large-scale basis. work for ensuring environmental safety, preservation and restoration of natural resources. In order to achieve better performance in these areas, Rosneft constantly improves its approaches to management of environmental protection activity, increases the scope of its environmental protection events and the necessary EP investments. For 2018-2022, more than 300 billion rubles for the Green investments are planned, of which in 2018 the volume of the Green investments amounted to 45.6 billion rubles.

Rosneft’s strategic goal in the area of environmental protection, defined in the framework of the ROSNEFT-2022 Strategy, is to become one of the leaders in environmental safety among oil and gas companies by 2022.  
 

ENVIRONMENTAL OBJECTIVES OF THE COMPANY UNTIL 2022

Decrease OF EMISSIONS OF GREENHOUSE GASES (GHG) in order to combat the climate change		MINIMIZING IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENT including through the implementation of the best available production technologies, waste  management, effective wastewater treatment, systematic implementation of environmental investment projects and environmental measures		IMPLEMENTING THE MEASURES TO PROTECT ECOSYSTEMS AND BIODIVERSITY, TO RESTORE, NATURAL RESOURCES, including reclamation of the disturbed lands

In order to achieve it, the Company, within the framework of the functioning integrated HSE management system, implements the provisions of the adopted HSE Policy and the internal supporting procedures and strives to fulfil the following commitments:

• provide for priority of preventive measures as compared to the measures aimed at localization and liquidation of the consequences of accidents;
• efficiently use natural resources during implementation of the Company’s business activity, take measures for their protection, restoration, rehabilitation of infringed territories;
• decrease the level of negative impact on the environment from the implemented business activity of the Company;
• take measures to reduce the impact of the Company's commercial activities on climate change;
• take measures to preserve ecosystems and biodiversity, including under implementation of the offshore projects and projects in the nature conservation areas. 

Evaluation of the effectiveness of the environmental management system of the Company, that is, its ability to achieve its goals, is carried out, first of all, by taking into account and analyzing the dynamics of quantitative environmental indicators.

COMPREHENSIVE PROGRAM FOR IMPROVING ENVIRONMENTAL EFFICIENCY

Achievement of the established goals is done through implementation of the Environmental Efficiency Improvement Program which is designed for the period up to 2025 and includes four following main areas (with a list of annual events for each) for all Group Companies (GC):

1. timely fulfillment of environmental obligations arising from the current activities of the Company (land reclamation, liquidation of sludge pits, waste disposal);
   The Company implements management measures and monitors compliance with environmental legislation at all stages of the life cycle of production and / or the provision of services, including processes outsourced to contractors.
   In order to regulate and control measures for fulfillment of the environmental obligations, the Company has implemented the Standards “Procedure for the management of reclamation of disturbed, polluted lands” and “Waste management”.
   The Company builds and reconstructs landfills for the disposal of industrial waste, outfits enterprises with modern oil sludge processing equipment and machinery. Preventive measures are being taken to prevent oil and oil products spills, targeted work is being done to increase the reliability of production facilities and equipment, to ensure sufficient resources for prevention, localization and liquidation of oil and oil products spills: an operational response system to oil and oil products spills has been formed and is developing, as a result the implementation of the program “Improving reliability of pipelines of Rosneft in 2015-2019” the volume of spilled oil and oil products resulting from failures of pipelines in 2018 was reduced and amounted to 2.81 m / million tons of the produced oil, compared with 2017 the decrease in volume amounted to 6%, in the area of application of the best technologies for prevention of the oil spills.
   When planning economic activity in accordance with the requirements of the legislation of the Russian Federation, an assessment of the potential environmental impact (EIA) is carried out, within the framework of which the type and level of impact are assessed: disturbance, pollution, changes in the quality of the environment, etc.
   In the process of production, environmental monitoring is carried out, including measurements and analysis of emissions of pollutants and atmospheric air, monitoring of surface, underground and groundwater, monitoring of soils, control of biodiversity conservation, including conservation of animal migration routes. According to the results of monitoring, if necessary, the measures are developed and implemented to reduce the impact of the production activity.
   
   
2. Liquidation of damages resulting from the activities of the third parties (contaminated land, sludge pits, drilling and sludge waste) at the Company's facilities;
   About 90% of accumulated oily waste is a “historical heritage”, i.e. waste generated in the past as a result of economic activities of the third parties and located on the territories and (or) facilities operated / used by the Company in the present.
   Due to maintaining the rates of restoration at a sufficiently high level, in 2018 the Company reduced the area of previously accumulated contaminated lands by 14%.
   
   
3. Reduction in the share of APG combustion, reduction of specific gross emissions to the atmospheric air;
   This is one of the key areas within this program. Due to the implementation of measures aimed at reducing gas dispersion during gas lift production and the fulfillment of conditions of carbon-free combustion in a number of fields, specific emissions from oil and gas production only in 2018 fell by 2%. At the same time, measures to modernize the refining and petrochemical industries allowed to reduce specific emissions from refining and petrochemicals by 6.5%. Thus, the Company was able to increase production, processing and sales of hydrocarbons while maintaining gross emissions at the level of the previous year.
   The goal of reducing gas dispersion during gas lift production, aimed at reducing methane emissions, was achieved by supplying this gas to the flare, which affected the component composition of the Company's emissions - hydrocarbon emissions decreased by 24%>, and the volume of combustion products (carbon monoxide, nitric oxide, volatile organic compounds, etc.) has grown.
   In 2018, the Company reduced specific emissions for specific substances - sulfur dioxide and hydrocarbons, including volatile organic compounds.
   
   
4. Increase in the share of recycled and repeatedly used water, environmentally safe treatment of produced reservoir water, introduction of the modern wastewater treatment systems.
   The program for improving environmental efficiency implies the rational use of water resources, which is implemented through the development and implementation of projects for each specific production facility, taking into account local factors.
   The goal of the Company - to limit the impact on water resources in all regions of its presence. In order to achieve it, in particular, in 2018, projects were implemented in the Oil Refining business unit: at Syzransky Oil Refinery JSC in the framework of the catalytic cracking complex construction, reconstruction of the Vemko block water supply system and the Vemko physical and chemical wastewater treatment plant continued; at Ryazansky Oil Refinery JSC, the reconstruction of the mechanical and biological wastewater treatment plant continued; at RN-Tuapsinsky Oil Refinery LLC construction and installation work on environmental water disposal facilities was carried out : treatment facilities, recycling water supply unit, pre-treatment system for biologically purified effluents, and a drainage system with erosion protection.
   Implementation by the Company of major environmental projects makes it possible to increase the efficiency of water management at production and the quality of water in the water supply system of the cities and settlements in the regions of presence of Rosneft.
   In 2018, two major projects in the area of “building local treatment facilities” were completed; the Company allocated more than 1.2 billion rubles to finance them: a complex of bio-treatment facilities at Bashneft-Ufaneftekhim (on the picture), which has no analogues in Russia and the countries of Eurasia, intended for the treatment of industrial, rain, domestic wastewater of the Bashneft refinery and 66 local enterprises and to reduce the intake of river water by 2.5 times due to the use of treated wastewater; as well as an advanced treatment plant with a membrane bioreactor at the Novokuybyshevsky Oil Refinery to increase the efficiency of treatment and to reduce the consumption of fresh water by maximizing the use of treated WASTEWATER in recycled water supply with full automation of the process.
   The results for 2018 indicate that the implementation of measures to improve the quality of wastewater treatment for reuse allowed the Company to maintain the volume of water resources consumption at the level of 2017, despite the increase in production volumes. The specific water consumption from surface and underground sources in oil refining and petrochemical chemistry decreased by 3%.
   In 2018, the share of use of produced produced water increased by 2% compared with 2017 and amounted to 94%. At the same time, almost all water undergoes preliminary preparation and treatment to the required quality. Only 6% of the reservoir water is discharged into the underground horizons.
   Reconstruction of the treatment facilities of the Oil refinery allowed the Company to increase the volume of recycled wastewater in 2018. At the same time, the discharge of wastewater into surface water bodies decreased by 4%.
   Improving the quality of waste water is one of the key tasks of Rosneft. In 2018, the Company took another step in this direction - it reduced the volume of discharged contaminated and insufficiently treated wastewater by 6%.

In addition to the activities of the Environmental Efficiency Improvement Program, the Company implements a wide number of environmental actions aimed at improving the ecological culture, implements measures to preserve biological diversity in the regions of its activity, and also collaborates with a wide range of stakeholders in order to exchange experience, develop the legislative framework and disseminate practices of responsible attitude to the environment.

The Company on a permanent basis carries out monitoring of achievement of the set EP goals under all industrial areas, if necessary corrective actions are developed, which ensure implementation of the provisions of the Company’s HSE Policy, voluntary environmental responsibility mechanisms have been implemented, such as voluntary insurance of responsibility for causing damage to environment, and independent audit and certification for compliance of the environmental management system with ISO 14001:2015 requirements.

PARTICIPATION IN ALL-RUSSIAN AND LOCAL ECOLOGICAL EVENTS 

An example of a large-scale participation of the Company in all-Russian environmental campaigns is participation in 2017 environmental program, which was declared the Year of Ecology by the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation. Along with the implementation of priority environmental projects, the implementation costs of which then amounted to 29.7 billion rubles, numerous events were held at the Companies of the Group of all business blocks, including scientific and technical conferences, thematic festivals, competitions, and actions to clean specially protected natural areas , clean-up events for cleaning the shores of water bodies, parks and forests throughout the country. Specialists of the ecological services of the Group's Companies held environmental lessons at all Rosneft Classes. At six venues of the Cluster scientific and technical conferences (STC) and at the Interregional STC of young specialists, the sections of “Ecology. Industrial safety and labor safety” were working. At the IV corporate congress of ecologists from more than 120 subsidiaries of the Company, reports were presented on relevant aspects of environmental protection, best practices and innovative solutions to environmental issues; preliminary results of the Company's subsidiaries have been summed up; problematic issues in the area of environmental protection were discussed, suggestions were made for their solution and the development of an integrated system for managing industrial safety, labor safety and environmental protection. At the Fifth All-Russian Congress of Ecologists held then, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation awarded Rosneft with a certificate for the “Active Environmental Policy of the Company in the Year of Ecology”, thus noting Rosneft involvement in environmental protection activities envisaged by the tripartite Agreement on cooperation with the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia and Rosprirodnadzor, WWF-Russia and the CREON agency appraised the large-scale environmental programs of the Company, presenting Rosneft at the ceremony of presentation of the results of the “Environmental Responsibility Rating of Russian Oil and Gas Companies - 2017” an honorary diploma “For the stable reduction of environmental impact in 2014-2017”.

Achievements in the area of environmental protection of the Company were also noted at the highest state level by a gratitude letter of the President of the Russian Federation for active participation and activities in the framework of the Year of Ecology in the Russian Federation in 2017.

In 2018, the participation of the Group Companies in landscaping reached a significant scale: traditional events were held, for example, in the city of Nyagan as part of the international environmental campaign “Save and Preserve”, employees of RN-Nyaganneftegaz JSC and representatives of the city administration planted 141.7 thousand seedlings of pine on an area of 35.43 ha; employees of Bashneft-Polyus LLC planted a rowan alley in Naryan-Mar; the employees of Achinsk Oil Refinery JSC planted 140 seedlings of birch, silver poplar, Norway spruce, Hungarian lilac in the residential territories of Achinsk; in Novokuybyshevsk, employees of Kuibyshevsky Oil Refinery JSC planted over 100 seedlings of deciduous trees and shrubs near the Palace of Culture, stadium, clinic, in school yards and in kindergartens. 

In 2018 alone, Company employees planted more than 1 million tree seedlings.

In 2019, the range of environmental actions of Rosneft expanded due to voluntary participation in international events. For example, in March 2019, the Company took part in the Earth Hour campaign, annually held in the world, aimed at drawing attention to the importance of saving energy resources and environmental topics. Rosneft thereby collectively joined the movement, which earlier in 2018 was supported in 188 countries of the world, and a population of 170 cities took part in the Russian Federation. The logo of this movement “60+” calls not only to turn off the light for one hour, but also “+” to take additional steps to protect the environment: to rationally use the water, properly dispose of the garbage, use biodegradable packaging, use LED lamps, participate in the environmental events.

Also in 2019, Rosneft and the Group Companies took an active part for the first time, with awarding winners with the prizes, at the All-Russian Ecological Clean-Up Day of Green Spring, an annual mass event of federal scale implemented by Non-Governmental Environmental Fund named after V.I. Vernadsky and the All-Russian Society of Nature Conservation.

Through practical activities, the Green Spring project contributes to the development and dissemination of environmental culture in Russia and the formation of a socially responsible society, living in harmony with the nature. Following the results of the Clean-up Day-2019, Rosneft was awarded a diploma and a commemorative prize "For active participation in the Clean-up Day, initiative and significant contribution to the cause of environmental protection.".

Currently, in line with the global trend of following the principles of socially responsible organization and in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation, the Company carries out separate collection of production and consumption waste, including at the level of local initiatives. For example, Samotlorneftegaz JSC implements measures for the separate collection of plastic, glass, waste paper, batteries, as well as food waste. Young specialists of the Company conduct volunteer actions on separate waste collection, and in order to develop ecological culture, students of the Rosneft classes are actively involved in this practice. Tyumenneftegaz JSC, Neftegorsky GPP CJSC and other Group Companies carry out the practice of collecting the waste paper.        

Active work is implemented in the area of environmental education with the educational institutions, particularly, RN-Nyaganneftegaz JSC developed a children's environmental magazine dedicated to caring for the environment, the magazines were distributed among the pupils in kindergartens in the city of Nyagan; Kuibyshev Refinery JSC conducted environmental campaigns among the schoolchildren for collection of the batteries and planting of the fir trees in the city.

On an ongoing basis, the employees of the Group Company participate in meetings and discussions on environmental issues,the campaign materials on environmental protection rules and compliance with the environmental legislation requirements are presented in the offices and at industrial sites of enterprises, and the measures are taken to clean up and planting of greenery on the territories of enterprises and nearby areas, separate waste collection.

Striving to achieve leadership in environmental safety among oil and gas companies, Rosneft does not stop at the achieved results, continues to develop corporate programs aimed at reducing the negative impact on the environment, organizes and participates in voluntary environmental campaigns emphasizing its direct interest and innovative approaches to improving ecological situation in the regions of activity and in the world in general.  

INNOVATIONS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

As part of its innovation activity, Rosneft is developing and testing various technologies designed to minimize the environmental footprint.

Within the framework of the adopted Program of innovative development of the company in the direction of “Ensuring Environmental Safety”, many projects are being implemented, including those being implemented by the institute of SamaraNIPIneft JSC, which is part of the Company’s perimeter, to conduct environmental and economic expertise of designed and existing technical and technological solutions, to develop new restoration technologies, introducing them into the production practice of the Company.

Part of the new technologies undergoes the pilot operation stage, for example, burial of drilling waste by injection into the reservoir. As early as in 2017, the Company began pilot operation of a complex for processing drilling waste by injection into the reservoir in the Nizhnevartovsk region of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous District. Its productivity is more than 140 thousand m3 of drill cuttings per year. Based on the results of geological analysis, three wells were drilled for pilot testing, and the facility was operated around the clock. 

At present, it is one of the most innovative and environmentally safe world practices for the utilization of drilling waste in the extraction of oil and gas. Unlike traditional methods of slurry processing, injection into the reservoir excludes placing of drilling waste on the surface, its contact with the environment. Process monitoring was carried in 2018 and is carried out presently.

Active work is currently being carried out on a number of targeted innovation projects:

• The use of biomats for the restoration of the drilling sludge pits in the winter: in 2018, the installation of biomats was completed, the results are evaluated, including the results of germination;
• Creation of an active boom barrier for the purification of water and bottom sediments from hydrocarbons: a draft technical documentation for the purification of a water body was prepared and approved, a public hearing was held. Work has begun on the selected facility for cleaning, monitoring is carried out.
• Development of a comprehensive scalable technology for the disposal of long-acting drilling waste materials: the Company collects and systematizes solutions for drilling waste disposal, as well as laboratory studies of drilling waste samples;
• Development of a comprehensive technology for the disposal of oil sludge containing natural radionuclides: studies of the physicochemical composition of soil samples were carried out, as well as substantiation of technical and technological solutions for the decontamination and disposal of oil-contaminated soils;
• Development of methods for reducing negative impact of chemicals used in the extraction of organochlorine compounds, formaldehyde and other impurities that affect equipment corrosion at refineries: laboratory methods for the determination of hydrogen sulfide absorbers and products of its interaction with hydrogen sulfide in oil and oil products have been developed. The level of safe hydrogen sulfide content is substantiated, which does not lead to the occurrence of technological, corrosion and environmental problems in the process of its transportation and processing. Work is underway with the Ministry of Energy of Russia to change the regulation of hydrogen sulfide;
• The study and monitoring of marine mammals as indicators of the sustainable state of the Black Sea ecosystems: part of the targeted innovative projects are at the preparatory stage:
• Development of chemical methods for the elimination of accidental oil spills in terms of dispersants for marine areas, the creation of a microbial preparation for the disposal of hydrocarbon pollution in the seas of the Arctic region: the project is being implemented in cooperation with Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov at the Laboratory of Microbial Biotechnology - a unit of the Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biology of the Moscow State University;
• Development of the concept of a specialized device for the elimination of emergency oil spills on the shelf; development of a unified amphibious technique with a rotor-screw propeller;

In addition to the above, in the framework of innovative projects, in particular, the following are carried out:

- development of a series of atlases reflecting the results of environmental studies of the seas of the Russian Federation conducted by Rosneft;

- study of the possibility of using commercially available reagent packages for chemical-technological equipment protection; study of populations of key species and types - indicators of the sustainable state of Arctic ecosystems as part of a biodiversity conservation program.                                               

COMBATING CLIMATE CHANGE

Being a party to the UN Global Agreement, Rosneft is aware of the urgency of the problem of climate changes and supports the measures for improvement of state regulation of greenhouse gas emissions, evaluates Paris agreement on climate changes. In accordance with the 13th UN goal in the area of sustainable development, “Combating Climate Change,” which Rosneft highlighted as one of its five priorities, the Company seeks to reduce the impact of its activities on climate change. 

The Company employees are actively participating in the events held by the Russian state authorities (Ministry of Energy of Russia, Ministry of Economic Development of Russia, etc.) dedicated to regulation of greenhouse gas emissions, including the issues related to decreasing the emissions in the public sector of economy. The company takes part in forming the respective legal framework, strives to comply with the best global industrial indicators in this sphere of environmental protection provision, reducing the impact of its activities on climate change. 

Mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions

Rosneft-2022 Strategy provides for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions of more than 8 million tons of CO2-eq. by 2022.  

For this purpose, the Company implements the Investment Gas Program and the energy conservation program. As a result of their implementation, for example, as early as in 2017, in comparison with 2016, greenhouse gas emissions decreased by 2%, despite the emergence of their new sources as a result of the acquisition of assets of ANK Bashneft PJSC. 

At the end of 2018, the reduction in specific greenhouse gas emissions throughout the Company since 2016 amounted to about 8%. 

The main objective of the Investment Gas Program is to reduce the rate of associated petroleum gas flaring to a level of no more than 5% in accordance with the target set by the Government of the Russian Federation. This task is achieved through an integrated approach to field development: creating infrastructure for the collection, use and supply of gas to consumers or re-injection of gas into the reservoir.

     To reduce environmental impact and minimize climate change, the Company also consistently:

     ■     commissions new and reconstructed refineries, expanding the list of products with improved fuel efficiency and low emissions;
     ■     informs consumers about the improvement of the environmental and operational characteristics of the produced fuels, the release of new types of products;
     ■     changes the structure of production in favor of more environmentally friendly products, increasing gas production and its share. 

Rosneft is increasing natural gas production, the use of which, in comparison with other types of fuel, can significantly reduce greenhouse emissions. 

Measures for the protection of atmospheric air and the creation of conditions for improving energy efficiency when using the Company's products are also the effective mechanisms to ensure a contribution to the limitation of greenhouse gas emissions. 

At the V Corporate Congress of Ecologists in December 2018, which was attended by managers and environmental experts from more than 120 subsidiary companies of the Company, special attention was paid to the development of internal competencies in the Company's climate protection activities. The Congress participants analyzed the best practices in managing greenhouse gas emissions, reviewed national calculation methods, developed recommendations on emission inventory and formation of measures to reduce them. At the specialized session devoted to climate change issues, a corporate automated system for calculating greenhouse gas emissions was presented.

In addition to the above, in order to minimize climate change, as part of measures to conserve forests, only in 2018 the Group Companies planted about 1 million seedlings. Thereat, the total volume of green investments of the Company over the past five years exceeded 240 billion rubles. 

CONSERVATION OF BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY

Starting from 2012, with the aim of preservation of biodiversity in the Arctic regions of its activity, the Company has been carrying out comprehensive scientific research expedition works at the Company’s Arctic license areas. Based on the totality of all the collected information, up-to-date state of the coastal territories and shores of the Arctic Seas of the Russian Federation is assessed.

During the last 6 years the Company, with involvement of specialists from Arctic Scientific Centre LLC, organized 18 comprehensive scientific research expeditions. During expeditions, Rosneft carries out researches in five Arctic seas. The research programs specially focus on comprehensive study of the ice conditions, including the physical and mechanical properties of flat ice, ice ridges, icebergs and glaciers. Leading Russian scientific organizations took part in the research. For the purpose of preparing environmental response maps, the Company arranged air photography of the Kara Sea coastal area in 2013 and 2014. Based on the totality of the collected information, assessment of the current state of the coastal territories and shores of the Kara Sea was conducted. The maps prepared based on these data are represented in the edition “Environmental Atlas. Kara Sea (2017)”.

Since 2015, the Company has been implementing the PROGRAM OF CONSERVATION OF THE BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY OF MARINE ECOSYSTEMS in the licensed areas of Rosneft located in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation. The purpose of the Program - to ensure safe development in the Arctic and to reduce the negative impact of economic and production activities.

The following results are achieved due to implementation of the Program:

• analysis of species diversity within the Company’s license areas with marking out of groups of the flag flora and fauna species, which are indicators of sustainable state of marine ecosystems, is conducted. Studying of white bears is one the large-scale projects implemented;
• identification and minimizing of environmental risks due to development and implementation of preventive measures is effected;
• comprehensive measures aimed at biodiversity preservation are formed;
• methodological, scientific research works and environmental protection measures in the course of geological exploration works are carried out;

In particular, in 2017-2018, as part of the Program, the following research and methodological work was carried out:

• there has been effected processing of field data for studying white bears and walruses habitat areas in the Vrangel Island, Bennet Island, Bolshiye Oranskiye Islands, laboratory processing of bio materials samples obtained during Kara-Summer-2016 expedition has been effected;
• methods for associated observations and minimizing the impact on marine mammals and birds during marine geological and physical work have been developed;
• list of species that are bioindicators of sustainable state of marine ecosystems at the Company’s license areas in the Arctic seas has been developed, a brochure on biodiversity of marine ecosystems in the Arctic zone in the licensed areas of Rosneft (2017) has been published.

In 2017, at 133 complex stations of the offshore areas of four seas: Barents, East Siberian, Japanese and Laptev Sea, studies of environmental components - air, sea water, bottom sediments, hydrobiological and ichthyological indicators, as well as related observations of marine mammals and birds were carried out. The obtained data made it possible to carry out ecological and fisheries mapping of the offshore areas of the licensed sites, as well as planning exploration work with minimal environmental impact.

In the same 2017, the following publications were prepared and issued: “Ecological atlas. Laptev Sea ”,“ Marine Mammals of the Russian Arctic and the Far East ”, containing the key results of the Company's work on study of the polar bear population, walrus, and observations of marine mammals.

In 2018, a brochure “Biotechnology for the Protection of Arctic Ecosystems” was published, which was prepared jointly with Innopraktika Company; the brochure presents the concept of a microbial drug for cleaning the coastline and waters of the northern seas.

In 2018 Rosneft initiated a three-year comprehensive project “Study and Monitoring of Marine Mammals as an Indicator of the Sustainable State of the Black Sea Ecosystems”. The contractor is the Institute of Oceanology, named after P.P. Shirshov of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dolphins are an indicator of the state of the marine ecosystem. In 2018 during the expedition, scientists observed the behavior of mammals, took photographs for subsequent photo-identification, studied the sound signals of the dolphins. According to the results of comprehensive study, it is planned to obtain more accurate data on the number and occurrence of dolphins and, on this basis, to develop recommendations for conservation of these marine mammals.

The Polar Bear Project

The Company pays specific attention to preservation and study of white bears. This is explained, among other things, by the fact that the white bear is one of the main “indicator species” of sustainable condition of Arctic ecosystems. In 2013, the Company took under its wing all white bears kept in all the country zoos, and in 2014 it started studying white bears in the framework of Arctic expeditions.

The main task of the study of white bear populations in the districts of prospective development of hydrocarbon deposits is assessment of the modern “basic” anthropogenic matter content in animal body. For this, scientists carry out a complex of measures including targeted helicopter surveillance, non-invasive collection of the biomaterial found. There is also conducted morphometric data retrieval, taking bio samples, labelling with collars equipped with satellite tracking devices for tracking the animals’ movements.

During subsequent laboratory studies scientists carry out molecular-genetic, toxicological, microbiological and hematological analysis of the bio samples taken during field works for assessment of the general state of health of the studied animals, and within the framework of the laboratory stage - analysis of international and Russian legal framework for white bear preservation, analysis of file data and the data accumulated by the Companies.

In 2018, two-year research work on the headcout and distribution of polar bears in the area of responsibility of Rosneft in the Kara Sea was completed. The accounting of polar bears in this region was carried out for the first time, as a result, information was obtained on the headcount and distribution of the polar bears and their food objects, and two female polar bears were tagged with radio collars.

Taking into account the relevance of the issue of the relationship of a person with a polar bear in their habitats, in 2018, methodological recommendations were developed to prevent conflict situations between a person and a polar bear for companies operating in the Arctic, which cover the rules of human behavior in the area of polar bears, including methods scaring away animals from people’s work places in the Arctic.

Evenki Deer Project

Vostsibneftegaz implements a grant program in the Kranoyarsk Territory to support scientists’ and research institutions’ studies having applied meaning for the Evenk District.

Since 2014, as a part of the study, the scientists from the Siberian Federal University (SFU) have been observing the migration of wild deer in the Evenki and Taimyr regions of the Krasnoyarsk Territory to identify factors affecting changes in migration routes, determining the number and state of the population.

Studies under Evenki Reindeer Project are of great significance for the Evenk and Taimyr Districts of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, as the reindeer is a key component of the Arctic ecosystem and is vital for indigenous people.

As a result of the use of collars with the ARGOS satellite monitoring system and integrated GPS receivers, data were obtained on the full annual cycle of wild deer migration in Evenkia.

For four years, researchers of the Siberian Federal University have been monitoring the migration of deer using the satellite collars. During the preparatory phase of the project, the SFU scientists carried out a ground and aerial survey of the range of animals on the Evenki and Taimyr territory, analyzed the results of aerial surveys, and collected information from the local population. During the first and second stages of the research, 17 individuals were labeled. Seasonal features of the movement of deer were identified, nature of their movement was studied depending on weather conditions and other environmental factors.

In 2018, as a part of the project, the scientists created an electronic textbook for students and schoolchildren — the most comprehensive collection of scientific data on the Taimyr and Evenki population in Russia today, including text, cartographic, photo and video materials. The electronic textbook was sent to the schools of the Evenki municipal district, where the lessons on wild deer were organized.

Sakhalin Taimen Project

Sakhalin taimen is listed in the RF and Sakhalin Region Red Books in the category “species endemic to the Far East declining in population and requiring protection.” In 2017 RN-Sakhalinmorneftegaz LLC implemented a Project aimed at developing recommendations and taking measures for preservation of Sakhalin taimen and other protected fish species.

The project involved detailed morphological description of the Dagi River basin and assessment of the Sakhalin taimen population level and state in the river. Study results evidence good state of Sakhalin taimen population: 0.028-0.164 fish per m3 depending on the area. Also commercial and recreational fishing and poaching in the Dagi River and Nyisky Bay was monitored.

Available results of current Sakhalin taimen population status studies in the Dagi River show that population was not materially impacted by the oil production facilities, and the poaching and uncontrolled fishing pose the greatest threat to the fish population.

INTERACTION WITH SPECIALLY PROTECTED NATURAL TERRITORIES

Rosneft assesses and manages its biodiversity impact being guided by the key international and Russian norms regulating industrial and business activity of companies in specially protected and environmentally vulnerable natural territories (SPNT).

In accordance with the HSE Policy of the Company, the Company, whenever possible, avoids carrying out activities within the SPNT. If the operations can impact the Protected Area, mitigation measures are developed and implemented and in-process environmental monitoring is conducted.

In accordance with the Register of Specially Protected Natural Territories established by the Company, the Group Companies of the Company regularly carry out production environmental control, which also takes into account the impact of production assets on biodiversity. Based on the results of the control procedures, events aimed, among other things, at minimization of such impact on the part of the Company’s facilities, are implemented.

In the framework of cooperation between Rosneft and the National Park “Russian Arctics” the Company supported implementation of the project for creating the system of alternative power supply of the base station of the said SPNA located near Cape Zhelaniya of the Severny Island of the Novaya Zemlya Archipelago, using mostly solar energy and wind energy. Implementation of this Project will favour successful solution of the tasks of FSBI National Park “Russian Arctics” on the issues of preservation of natural complexes and objects of the Russian Arctic Regions that have special environmental, historical and aesthetic value.

Being aware that the Arctic Regions’ environment consists of ecosystems with unique features and resources that need special protection, the Company put forward the initiative to adopt the Declaration on Protection of the Environment and Preservation of Biodiversity During Exploration and Development of the Mineral Resources of the Arctic Continental Shelf of the Russian Federation. In the framework of this Declaration, Cooperation Agreements between Rosneft and the EMERCOM of Russia, the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation, International Public organization Polar Explorers’ Association (“ASPOL”) as well as with Non-Commercial organization World Wildlife Fund.

The document implies creation of uniform approaches to works on the shelf, regular monitoring of changes of natural landscape and the Arctic Region seas, development of international cooperation taking into account the strategies of protection of the Arctic Regions environment.

Since 2014 Rosneft, in the framework of its interaction with the WWF, has been taking part in discussion of the methodology of environmental rating of oil and gas companies. It also publishes the necessary information about its environmental protection activity.

Information additionally disclosed by the Company in order to participate in
«2018 Oil and Gas Companies Environmental Responsibility Rating» (WWF, Creon)