Rosneft Employees Clean 70,000 m2 of Volga River Shores
As part of World Cleanup Day, the Samara production enterprises of Rosneft Oil Company has taken part in an environmental campaign to clean the shores of the Volga River, as well as its tributaries and nearby lakes. Employees collected and disposed of over four tonnes of household and river-brought waste. Since 2012, Rosneft enterprises’ personnel has cleaned approximately 70,000 square metres of shores, which is equivalent to 10 soccer fields.
The campaign was attended by the staff of Samaraneftegaz, the Novokuybyshevsk Refinery, Kuybyshev Refinery, Syzran Refinery, Novokuybyshevsk Petrochemical Company, and Novokuybyshevsk Oils and Additives Plant.
By implementing environmental programmes and applying new technologies, the enterprises of the Rosneft Samara Group make a significant contribution to the conservation of the region’s water resources. The enterprises have reduced water intake from natural sources and increased the use of recycled water to 94-100%. For more than a decade, work has been carried out to replenish aquatic biological resources, and fry of valuable species of fish have been released into the water area of the Volga: sterlet, common carp and silver carp.
The refining and petrochemical enterprises--the Novokuybyshevsk, Kuybyshev and Syzran Refineries--are actively implementing innovative biological wastewater treatment complexes. These include the most advanced membrane bioreactor technology using sealed aero tanks, which significantly improves the quality of wastewater treatment and increases the use of treated water in technological processes. In order to bring the quality of treated wastewater to the specified standards, the Novokuybyshevsk Oils and Additives Plant completed a project to build local treatment facilities.
Since 2016, Samaraneftegaz, Rosneft’s production asset, has fully stopped taking water from surface water bodies since to maintain reservoir pressure and does not discharge waste water into water bodies.
The Samara Group production enterprises pay special attention to improving the reliability of pipelines by implementing a number of targeted programmes that include the diagnosis and replacement of the pipeline fleet.
Employees of Rosneft subsidiaries are active participants in cleaning up riverbanks, reservoirs and springs. In 2020, the Samara Group production enterprises held the Samara Region Springs environmental campaign to study natural sources of water, improve the environment and restore the surrounding area. A programme has been developed and is being implemented to create an environmental awareness in the younger generation, which includes environmental festivals and open classes in general education institutions.
The effectiveness of the environmental policy of Rosneft’s Samara Group enterprises has been repeatedly noted by experts in regional and national competitions. The enterprises became winners of the Leader of Environmental Protection in Russia competition in 2018 and 2019.
Note for Editors:
In 2020, Rosneft Oil Company joined the leading global oil and gas companies – participants of the international rating in the Water Resources Category under the CDP Project (Carbon Disclosure Project). Rosneft’s operations, taking into account water management decisions, was assigned the “B-” rating, which corresponds to the worldwide average. Rosneft’s strategic environmental goal stipulated in the Rosneft 2022 Strategy is to enter the group of environmental leaders among oil and gas companies by 2022.
Preservation of unique water bodies is one of the priority tasks set in the Presidential Decree No. 204 “On National Goals and Strategic Objectives of the Russian Federation Development by 2024” dated May 7, 2018. The project should ensure the environmental improvement of water bodies and carry out measures to clean up the banks and coastal waters of Lake Baikal, Lake Teletskoye, Lake Ladoga, Lake Onega and the rivers of the Volga, Don, Ob, Yenisei, Amur, Urals and Pechora.
The Volga is the largest river not only in the region, but also in Europe. In total, over two hundred large and small rivers and streams flow through Samara Region. There are national parks, state nature sanctuaries and reserves on the banks of the Volga River.
Rosneft
Information Division
October 12, 2020