PJSOC Bashneft's Board of Directors has approved the Company's Innovative Development Programme until 2021 with an outlook until 2026. Previously, the Programme had been approved by the Interdepartmental Commission for Technological Development under the Office of the Presidential Council for Economic Modernization and Innovative Development.

'Introduction of innovations is a key tool for making the Company more competitive,' emphasized Alexey Teksler, Chairman of Bashneft's Board of Directors, First Deputy Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation. 'The aim of the Innovative Development Programme is to create organizational and financial mechanisms that will enable the Company to adopt state-of-the-art technologies and technical solutions required for improving its performance in a variety of areas and for further successful implementation of energy efficiency and import substitution programmes.'

The Programme defines key areas of research (geomechanical properties of formations, hydraulic fracturing, seismic surveys, formation stimulation by means of WAG injections, improvement of refining and petrochemical technologies, improvement of petroleum product quality and improvement of energy efficiency of production facilities) and contains detailed action plans aimed at searching for, developing and implementing state-of-the-art industrial technologies that help meet new industry challenges. One of the main objectives of the Programme for 2017 and 2018 is to improve the organizational framework for the 'virtual test site' (a system currently being developed in Bashneft that will enable efficient identification, adaptation and implementation of new technologies).

One of the key mechanisms for implementing the Programme consists in active interaction with the external innovative environment. Currently, Bashneft is conducting joint R&D under cooperation agreements with Lomonosov Moscow State University and Ufa State Petroleum Technological University. Under an agreement with the Skolkovo Foundation, three innovative projects are undergoing pilot tests to examine the possibilities and determine the areas for introduction of promising developments at Bashneft's production facilities.