Traditionally "LUKOIL - West Siberia" LLC (AZS) considered to be a kind of paragon, including the highest production, environmental and social standards. All other subsidiaries of LUKOIL were expressly or by implication requested to emulate the undisputed leader.
Recently, it became clear that the "impeccability" of Lukoil was somehow flattered, mildly speaking. It concerns, among other things, the relationships of the company with the indigenous peoples of the North (Small Indigenous Peoples of the North). Which are, in particular, the Khanty and Mansi.
Heated conflict developed between the Khanty family Aipiny and the oil major, obviously, had some background. It seems plausible that Aipiny were four times obliged to change the territory of their business activity. But on the fifth time the lid came off. And we can understand them! I think that all this was a result of the absence of serious legal principles governing the relationships of oilers and the indigenous peoples (Khanty) with traditional lifestyle. And also the results of the improper performance of PR&GR service of "big" LUKOIL and its West Siberian branch. If the local but still ethno-social conflict developed, then the relevant departments didn’t conduct a preventive work with kinship communities and ethno-cultural associations of Khanty.
I think it's a wake-up call. However, it’s senseless to draw a large-scale inference about the "rebellion" against the "Kremlin, oligarchs and chekists" from this story. We are dealing with a heated episode; nothing more. Big-time politics is nowhere near.
Now I want to shunt the conversation on a slightly different plane. In 2002, an Executive Director of "LUKOIL -Archangelskgeoldobycha" LtD Alexey Barinov and a previous leader of the "Association of Nenets People "Yasavey" Vladislav Peskov jointly prepared and later brilliantly implemented the social and humanitarian project "Red Raw-Hide Tent". It became known as the «Kaninsky Red Tent»; and “LUKOIL –Komi” LLC picked up the baton of “Arkhangelskgeoldobycha”. The project involves the fact that the Lukoil structures sent experienced doctors to the Kanin tundra (there are no oil fields, which is very important!). They wandered with reindeer herders, making diagnostics and possible prevention of diseases right in the tundra. In acute cases they called for the air medical service and directed people to the hospital of Arkhangelsk. And cultural workers unfolded a camp library in one of the raw-hide tents; the old faithful Soviet movies such as «Brilliantovaya ruka» were also shown there.
This and other similar initiatives of "LUKOIL" in the Nenets Autonomous Area greatly helped to build up constructive (not splendiferous and fake) relationship of the company with the indigenous peoples...
And the last thing. In November I made a speech on regional and international, scientific and public forums in Syktyvkar, Moscow and Arkhangelsk. Among other things, I expressed the opinion on the reasonability of the long-term cooperation agreement between the "LUKOIL - Komi" and "Association of Nenets People "Yasavey", as well as between LUK-Komi and MOD "Komi Voityr". I am sure that such an agreement would be very profitable not only for national organizations (the Nenets and Komi peoples in general) but also for the major user of subsurface resources of Timan-Pechora. And it seems to me difficult to explain that "LUKOIL - Komi" doesn’t respond to these ideas. Either positively or negatively.
Vagit Alekperov once said: "Not people for oil, but oil for the people". The top managers of Lukoil like to quote these words. However, lately they hold off on implementing the principle of LUKOIL’s President. It is no surprise that a small kinship community took “the hatchet” in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous District, in the heart of “Lukoil Empire”. It is also no surprise that many scientists, public figures and honest people are on the side of the Khanty reindeer herder in this case... If not to engage into building partnerships with the indigenous peoples of the North, the shining example of Khanty reindeer herders can be also quite inspiring in other regions of the company.
