One day in life of Gazprom headquarters

Here we go: April 3, 8:30am. It is “minus zero” outside. A cold wind is hitting our faces. The Company’s staff members are coming in through the central entrance, hurrying to the office.

The “leaden” sky over the Administration building promises that the day is not going to be an easy day for everyone. The Company’s employees call the building a “tower” or a “candle”. Some people even say it looks more like a “pencil”.

Or maybe the sky only seems “leaden”?

We are in the entrance hall inside the Administration building.

Snapshots of our lives are sliding across a special screen in the entrance hall. For instance, now you see the sportsmen from the Gazprom Yugra futsal team, champions of Russia, meeting with Alexey Miller.

Here is the man who has control over the screen in the entrance hall. His name is Vladimir Vinogradov.

The Gazprom headquarters is a real “warren”. Corridors and passages of the buildings are seething with people in a rush on their business.

We need to find the Conference Hall.

The Conference Hall will host an important meeting today. Everything is ready to welcome the meeting participants.

As usual, the name of a meeting participant will be recorded and entered into his or her travel order.

Mikhail Morozov, sound producer double checks if everything is OK with the microphone.

If the sound is low, we have no idea how to fix it, and he is the man who does.

In the video studio everything is also all ready. The control board is in the firm hands of Andrey Pavlov.

Viktor Feofanov, Deputy Head of the Conference Halls Service Division sets the light on stage. There is no doubt that the meeting participants will see everything crystal clear.

The tribune is waiting for spokesmen.

All present and correct. It is time to start. It would be better for us to leave and not to embarrass people.

By the way, right next to the Conference Hall there is always a display of paintings and other items of artwork created by independent artists.

So, if you have a spare moment, you may feast your eyes on fine art.

Next, we are on the way to the Corporate Institute.

It is here where the Company’s employees upgrade their skills. Today’s class is led by Viktor Serov, Doctor of Economics, Professor, Head of the Construction Economics and Investment Management Department at State University of Management.

This is a subject of the classes: “Labor Economics and Socio-Labor Relationships in Gazprom’s Organizations”.

If you wish, you may learn on your own. There is a range of books, including specialized publications, fiction and periodicals in the library of the Corporate Institute.

For instance, in these books you may find a lot of useful information about natural gas.

Svetlana Slavinskaya, Head of the Library and her colleagues are always ready to give the readers a helping hand.

Next to the library, there is one of “the most visited rooms” in Gazprom – our Press Center. All major press conferences take place here. There is nobody here now, and we switched the digital screens on to add some color to the picture.

Let’s have a quick look into the office of Vitaly Markelov, Deputy Chairman of the Management Committee.

In the morning it is already very busy in his reception room. At 10:00am there will be a conference call with heads of the Gazprom Administration’s structural units and Directors General of some subsidiaries, so by the appointed time everything should be ready.

Anatoly Titov (center), Director General of Gazprom Transgaz Tomsk and Valery Kanyuka (right), First Deputy Director General of Gazprom Komplektatsiya, waiting for the conference call to begin, synchronize their watches…

…Svetlana Dzyuba, Deputy Head of the East-Oriented Project Coordination Directorate and Konstantin Stepovoy, Director General of Gazprom Dobycha Noyabrsk discuss the meeting agenda.

10:00am. Vitaly Markelov is in his office. The meeting has begun.

Vitaly Markelov is in charge of production operations, that’s why mainly the “production people” take part in the meeting. Left in the foreground – Sergey Prozorov, First Deputy Head of the Investment and Construction Department, right – Boris Posyagin, Head of the Central Operations and Dispatch Department.

Left – Vsevolod Cherepanov, Member of the Management Committee, Head of the Gas, Gas Condensate and Oil Production Department. Right – Yaroslav Golko, Member of the Management Committee, Head of the Investment and Construction Department.

Igor Fyodorov, Member of the Management Committee, Director General of Gazprom Komplektatsiya.

In the foreground – Svetlana Dzyuba, in the background – Sergey Khan, Deputy Head of the Gas Transportation, Underground Storage and Utilization Department, Head of the UGS Directorate.

Anatoly Zakharov, Director General of Gazprom Transgaz Ukhta is live on video call.

And now Vitaly Markelov’s questions…

…Igor Ivanov, Director General of Gazprom Transgaz Surgut answers.

The meeting is in full swing and we’d better go further.

Now you will see the very top of our “tower”.

We are on the 35th floor of the Administrative building. This is the domain of Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee. Here he holds the most important talks and festive ceremonies.

From here you may walk out to the roof and get a panoramic view of Moscow.

Well, “minus zero” and a strong wind do not encourage us to take a walk.

So, the photographer takes a picture of his reflection in the building’s top, as a goodbye gesture, and we carry on.

Now we are at the Offset Printing Division. Deputy Head Olga Izotova welcomes us.

Here you can promptly print or copy any documents or papers that you need. Modern equipment enables everything to be done quickly and in a high quality manner. Marina Polyakova, Lead Engineer of the Offset Printing Division is at her workplace.

Liliya Khukhra, Chief Technologist, Offset Printing Division.

Our lawyers always do their best to protect interests of Gazprom. Sergey Kuznets, Deputy Head of the Legal Department.

Nadezhda Shervashidze-Goncharova, Chief Attorney of the Legal Department.

Polina Trubachyova does an internship with the Legal Department.

We are glad to see many friendly faces at the Asset Management and Corporate Relations Department. Konstantin Kravchenko, Head of the Long-Term Investments Directorate.

Alexander Mikhailychev, Chief Expert of the Asset Management and Corporate Relations Department.

Ekaterina Lisova, Assistant to the Head of the Asset Management and Corporate Relations Department.

And this is the “heart” of Gazprom – control room of the Central Operations and Dispatch Department. From here we control gas streams. Information coming from all parts of Russia’s Unified Gas Supply System is being gathered here. This room is operational 24/7.

Anatoly Paramonov (right), Deputy Head of the Central Operations and Dispatch Department has a talk with Sergey Pavlov, Chief Dispatcher, Deputy Head of the Operations and Dispatch Directorate (Central Operations and Dispatch Department).

A fragment of the screen in the control room.

Meanwhile, it is lunch time…

…and we are going to the canteen.

First impressions count! Grade 5 Cook Inna Avlasinkova gives us a smile.

Cooking is an art. Grade 6 Cook Nikolai Tsvetkov.

Salads.

Main courses.

Desserts.

And kompot.

It’s time to join the queue…

…make a choice what to have…

…and pay at the cashier…

…and – sit down at a table. Dmitry Suchkov, Driver at Gazprom Branch for Motor Vehicles.

Bon appetite!

A lunch break for the Company’s members of staff is just 45 minutes. There is a certain lunch rota – that’s why more than 2,000 people manage to have their lunch at the Gazprom canteen on a daily basis.

Prompt and good service does save time. Cashier Elena Khvorostinina.

Next to the canteen you may find a bakery. Bakery vendors Oksana Klimanova and Ekaterina Sbitneva.

You may go to the restaurant for lunch. You will be warmly welcomed here. Waiters Dmitry Sim and Alexander Vasilyev, waitress Diana Alexeeva.

On our way to the next shooting location – Medical Clinic – we popped into the flower shop.

Flower vendors are true professionals, that’s why they don’t have much spare time. Florist Tatyana Lagodina makes a bouquet.

Florist Anna Petrovskaya.

The Medical Clinic is located right on the Gazprom premises, which is very convenient you would agree.

Professor Nikolai Lebedev (left), Chief Physician discusses some routine matters with his deputy, Vladimir Spesivtsev, Ph.D. in Medical Science.

The Medical Clinic houses state-of-the-art equipment. This machine is called a computed tomography scanner. Marina Platonova, Assistant of the CTS Sector of the X-Ray Laboratory is examining a patient.

Yulia Bukovskaya, Chief of the Magnetic Resonance and Computed Tomography Imaging Sector, Doctor of Medical Science and Alexander Ivanchikov, Ph.D. in Medical Science are analyzing diagnostic findings.

This is a dentist surgery. Alexander Vanyan, Head of the Dental Care Division with his assistant Marina Mikhina at work.

Operations of various degrees of complexity are performed at the Medical Clinic. We are right in the moment when the surgery team is getting ready for one of those operations.

Slavomir Vorotnitsky (in the foreground), Head of Surgical Division and Alexander Shikhmetov (in the background), Deputy Chief Physician, Lead Surgeon, Ph.D. in Medical Science.

Everything is ready to start an operation...

…and we have to leave – unauthorized personnel are not allowed in the surgery. Laparoscopy is being performed.

But let’s go back to the offices. These gasmen welcome us in the reception office of Alexander Bespalov, Head of the Information and Communications Department.

There is also much activity here. Lyudmila Stepanova and Olga Skopintseva.

A real Gas Street exists in Alexander Bespalov’s office.

We also found an intriguing object in the office of Sergey Kupriyanov, Deputy Head of the Information and Communications Department, Press Secretary of the Management Committee Chairman.

These are real valenki (felt boots)!

Employees of the Information and Communications Department: Tatyana Fursa, Ksenia Ivanova, Elena Valliulina, Elena Kharitonova, Tatyana Sosova.

Elena Kharitonova, Deputy Head of the Public Relations Development Directorate.

Tatyana Fursa, Head of the Cultural and Charity Projects Division.

Inna Danilova, Head of the Corporate Communications Division.

Nikita Malezhik, staff member of the Corporate Communications Division.

Elena Davydova, Head of the Advertising and Branding Division was meeting with the head of a contracting organization when we came in.

Rimma Ilyasova, Deputy Head of the Advertising and Branding Division.

Olga Zhilina, staff member of the Advertising and Branding Division.

Dmitry Koltyrev, staff member of the Advertising and Branding Division.

Meet Olga Chernykh, staff member of the Contract Relations Division.

We are at the Special Projects and Studies Division now. Division Head Matvey Geller talks about something important with Marina Shibanova.

Boris Sapozhnikov also works at the Special Projects and Studies Division.

The Internet Communications and Monitoring Division look after the Gazprom website and monitor mass media. Division Head Vyacheslav Loshkarev.

Sergey Shemyakin, staff member of the Internet Communications and Monitoring Division.

Well, of course we couldn’t just pass by one of the key structural units of the Information and Communications Department – the Press Service. Two divisions form the Press Service – the Russian Media Relations Division and the Foreign Media Relations Division.

Dmitry Martynenko cooperates with the Russian media.

Arseny Annenkov, staff member of the Russian Media Relations Division.

Mikhail Krasnov is also from the “Russian team” of the Press Service.

Margarita Melikyan, Deputy Head of the Foreign Media Relations Division communicating with foreign newsmen speaks a language other than her native one.

Time is flying, and quite unexpectedly for us the business day is almost over. After work many of the Company’s staff members hurry to the Sports and Recreation Center, which is a structural unit of the Medical Clinic located nearby.

Here there is a real swimming pool for professional training…

…a tennis court…

...and a gym.

Every coach is a professional. Mikhail Rudenok, Chief Bodybuilding Instructor knows what he is doing – he lifts up a 50 kg dumbbell in each hand.

Regular sports exercises – a way to the healthy and balanced life.

But if you are already leading a healthy lifestyle, it is always good for you to go in for sports.

Age is no problem for doing sport. Andrey Savelyev, Head of the Service for Infrastructure Development and Outfitting of Facilities under Construction, Gazprom Branch for Corporate Premises Management. The gym members call him “Konstantinych” in a very respectful way.

It is 9:00pm and already dark outside. But some windows in the “tower” are still lighted. Let’s go to the 3rd floor.

Vlada Rusakova (right), Member of the Management Committee, Head of the Prospective Development Department is discussing some urgent business matters with her colleagues.

Vlada Rusakova.

Who knows, maybe we are witnessing the birth of a brand new promising project of Gazprom.

There is also light upstairs in the office of Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Management Committee.

As usual, by the end of a day he needs to sign documents and arrange assignments for the next day.

It is a well-known fact that Alexey Miller is a Zenit supporter.

It is 9:30pm and not the finish line yet. The global energy company is working in all time zones at the same time.

In the 19th century it took several months to get from Moscow to the Far East. Nowadays, during one day the Company’s top executives may have several working meetings in various parts of the world. Sergey Kupriyanov and Alexey Miller.

Alexey Miller: “If you have a job in Gazprom, it’s a 24/7 commitment”. Like a real captain, he is among the last ones to leave his workplace.

It is almost 10:00pm Moscow time. We come out of the “tower” together with the Gazprom employees who are not the last ones leaving the building.

See you next time!