“Everything is calculated and thought over in the company”: Nizhnekamskneftekhim launches several social projects

The flagship of Tatarstan's petrochemical industry has managed to open three significant facilities at once in the “coronavirus” time

In the year of the 75th anniversary of victory in the Great Patriotic War, Nizhnekamskneftekhim is opening one of the best shooting ranges in the Volga Region, unique museum of the history of the Great Patriotic War, which stores the personal belongings of fallen soldiers, as well as the updated building of the company's Veterans Council.

The hall for archery, crossbow, pneumatic and interactive weapons

Ruslan Shigabutdinov, the director general of TAIF PSC, attended the opening ceremony of social facilities, having previously inspected the production site of Nizhnekamskneftekhim. Together with the head of the petrochemical company, Ayrat Safin, he visited the existing and under construction facilities of the enterprise.

After a tour around the production facilities, Ruslan Shigabutdinov came to the opening of the updated Neftekhimik shooting range. The reconstruction of the building, which was built more than 40 years ago, began last year at his instruction. The repair and restoration works were carried out for a whole year. Today it is one of the best shooting ranges in the Volga Region.

The guests were told that the new complex is equipped in accordance with the requirements of GOST, SNiP, and regulations of the Russian Federation on the organization of shooting ranges. There are halls for archery, crossbow, pneumatic and interactive weapons.

After that, they offered to see how pneumatic weapons are fired.

“Are shooters ready?" the instructor asked the audience.

“Yes!” the students of the military-patriotic club replied in chorus.

“Glasses on! Take your weapons! Charge! Aim! Fire!” the instructor ordered, followed by loud shots.

“Well done!” Ruslan Shigabutdinov praised the young shooters.

Primarily employees of Nizhnekamskneftekhim have the opportunity to develop shooting skills here and prepare for competitions in sports and applied sports. Classes at Neftekhimik shooting range will also be available to schoolchildren and students.

“Each of us should have practical skills in shooting. In our sports shooting range, you can shoot with a bow, crossbow, interactive and pneumatic weapons. This is a unique opportunity to get practical skills that I hope will never come in handy but will only be used in this shooting range," said Ayrat Safin, the director general of Nizhnekmskneftekhim.

Sergey Ilyin, the chief of staff of the Practical Shooting Federation in the Republic of Tatarstan, attended the opening of the shooting range of Nizhnekamskneftekhim. According to him, there are no more such facilities in the eastern part of the republic.

“It is good that the object did not just appear but appeared well-equipped. The management wants to develop the facility and develop the sport. Therefore, we believe in the great future of the shooting range. The equipment gives the opportunity to hold competitions," he noted.

The guests visited all three shooting halls, learned about the specifics of preparing for competitions and passing the GTO (Ready for Labour and Defence) standards.

“The number one task is for the factory team to become the champion of the Republic of Tatarstan," Ruslan Shigabutdinov addressed the petrochemists.

“We'll try," said Ayrat Safin.

“The most important achievement for us is raising the soldier”

On the same day, another significant event took place in Nizhnekamskneftekhim — the opening of the Museum of Battle Glory, dedicated to the history of the Great Patriotic War. The idea of its creation belongs to Olga Lantsova, the commander of the search group Neftekhimik. It includes 30 patriots — employees of the company and students of sponsored educational institutions. Over 15 years of work, members of the group made dozens of expeditions, raised the remains of 800 soldiers.

“The most important achievement for us is raising of the soldier. If he has a locket with him, we're looking for relatives. If a relative has arrived, then everything is the final point in the history of this person we raised. At this point, you realise that you are doing the most necessary thing. Relatives show us a photo of the found fighter. And when a soldier is raised, you always want to see what he was like… We basically know the approximate age from the structure of the bones and the formation of the skull. But we would also like to know if he had a family, a wife, children, how he went to the front," says Olga Lantsova, who first went to the excavations in 1991.

The Museum of Battle Glory is located in unused objects on the territory of the enterprise. The building was redeveloped and renovated. The exhibition and decoration of the halls were carried out directly by the soldiers of the search group Neftekhimik. Most of the exhibits are authentic unique finds found during search expeditions on the sites of fierce battles. The most valuable exhibits are personal belongings of soldiers. Unlike most museums, you can touch everything with your hands.

“We needed a room where the search party's belongings would be stored. These are tents, boilers, etc. It all had to be stored somewhere. With this request, I asked the leadership of Nizhnekamskneftekhim to provide us with at least some kind of garage. But we were offered such a large room. Moreover, they said that they would make repairs so that there would be a museum. We were very happy about this. We ourselves came up with the concept of the museum. I wanted to show it not so that it was just racks and there were exhibits in them, but just so that you can go up and touch it," said Olga Lantsova, the head of the search group Neftekhimik.

Ruslan Shigabutdinov, the director general of TAIF PSC, attended the opening ceremony of the unique museum. Speaking to the audience, he stressed that the war will not end until the last soldier is raised. He thanked the searchers for their difficult and important work.

“In the year of the 75th anniversary of the Great Victory, we have the opportunity to open this complex — the large modern shooting range and the military-patriotic club Neftekhimik with the Museum of Battle Glory located in it. Our generation will forever owe a great debt to the veterans of war and the home front. And the easiest thing we can do is to preserve the memory of the people who gave their lives for our freedom, for today's beautiful sky, for the opportunity to work, live and move forward," said Ruslan Shigabutdinov, the director general of TAIF PSC, in a solemn speec.

He assured the audience that TAIF Group and Nizhnekamskneftekhim will continue to provide the necessary assistance for the development of patriotic education of young people, as well as the search movement.

“Today we are present at the opening in such an expanded format. Perhaps, on the scale of Nizhnekamskneftekhim, this is not the most important, not the largest profitable facility, but in addition to the production results, we have a task to preserve the memory of the wartime, of the price paid for our people's Victory in the Great Patriotic War. I am very happy and grateful that you have the time, and most importantly, the desire to participate in this search work, conduct search activities and bury real heroes. Thank you for such an important and necessary work, thank you to the management of Nizhnekamskneftekhim for actively supporting all these initiatives," said Ruslan Shigabutdinov.

Ayrat Safin, the director general of Nizhnekamskneftekhim, also thanked everyone who took part in the opening of the museum of the history of the Great Patriotic War.

“We are very happy that today's youth can get in touch with history, see and hear what happened in those years. They can also join our search team, which conducts a lot of search work. Our search team raised more than 800 soldiers, identified the names of more than 15 dead soldiers, photos of 12 of them are in the museum. This is a large number. All of them have been buried with honours. They have their names, before that they were nameless soldiers. This is a big job. We should be proud of this and support it," said Ayrat Safin.

“I always wanted to go on an expedition and see everything live”

Director General of TAIF PSC Ruslan Shigabutdinov added that the opening of three social facilities in this difficult “coronavirus” time has taken place thanks to the long-term strategic programme of Nizhnekamskneftekhim.

“Nizhnekamskneftekhim always builds its work as planned, all the company's projects are calculated and thought over up to the finest detail. Therefore, when there is a multi-year strategic programme, when the company's management, shareholders, and board of directors clearly understand what we are going to do, how, when, and for what money, it allows us to be calm, not worry about the prospects, and sometimes it is possible to improve this strategic programme. It so happened that we opened the facilities for the 75th anniversary of the Victory. This was planned work when it became possible to finance the social sector," said Ruslan Shigabutdinov at the opening of the museum.

After a sightseeing tour of the museum of the history of the Great Patriotic War, the commander of Neftekhimik detachment, Olga Lantsova, presented the search form to Ruslan Shigabutdinov, Ayrat Safin and Timur Shigabutdinov. By the way, the director general of TAIF PSC admitted that he himself does not mind going to the excavations as a fighter.

“My grandfather on mother's side participated in the war, he was a tank soldier, mechanic, and finished the war in Konigsberg. He went to war as a 16-year-old boy. The second grandfather on the father's side was from a large family, there were seven brothers. He, as one of the younger ones, was left in the countryside, was a good mechanical engineer. The older brothers all went to the front and went through the whole war. Every person who was born in the USSR, Russia, has relatives, loved ones who went through the heat of war. I always wanted to go on an expedition and see everything live, but the coronavirus made its own adjustments. The main thing is that there is the desire to participate in this," he said.

The petrochemists cherish the memory of those terrible events. Throughout the year, they provide all possible assistance to veterans of the Great Patriotic War, participate in all commemorative campaigns and events. Just the other day, on June 22, Day of Remembrance and Mourning, the company's employees gathered near the Victory monument to honour the memory of the fallen soldiers and lay flowers at the Eternal Flame. After that, the petrochemists visited the mass grave of the 80th ski battalion in the city cemetery.

“We need to work and protect the older generation”

In the anniversary year of the 75th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War, Nizhnekamskneftekhim made a gift to the Council of War and Labour Veterans of the company. The organization moved to new premises at Lesnaya Street, 45. The building was renovated, new furniture and office equipment were purchased.

The Veterans Council of Nizhnekamskneftekhim was established on February 2, 1983. The first members of the public organisation were participants of the Great Patriotic War — 360 people. Today it consists of more than 10,500 people. Among them — three front-line soldiers, 113 home front workers and 3 widows of war participants.

“This year is the 75th anniversary of the Victory, we had a special attitude to veterans. They were allocated money to repair apartments, there were also funds dedicated to the anniversary, as well as to pay for utilities. For them, free treatment is organised in sanatoriums, dispensaries. And many other benefits — for Day of the Elderly. We visit them every holiday, congratulate them, and give them gifts. They enjoy great attention not only from the Council of Veterans but also from the collective where they previously worked," said Rashit Valiullin, the chairperson of the Council of Veterans and Labour of Nizhnekamskneftekhim.

Today, the office of the company's Veterans Council is one of the most equipped and spacious offices of the primary veteran organisation in Tatarstan. This was stated with confidence by the chairperson of the City Council of Veterans, Grigory Kitanov.

“Dear chiefs, thank you for the gift you've made in the anniversary year. I worked for 20 years as the deputy head and 30 years in the draft commission. I know all this. We were proud of the parade in Moscow yesterday. Today we must preserve the memory and perpetuate it. Today, the veterans' organization of our city and district is the third in the republic, with more than 80,000 pensioners. The largest of them is the veteran organization of Nizhnekamskneftekhim," Chairperson of the Nizhnekamsk Municipal District's Veterans Council Grigory Kitanov thanked the company's management.

He said that in the near future he will hold a field meeting at Nizhnekamskneftekhim because there is something to learn here.

“There are practically no such conditions that have been created in this room in the republic. We need to work and protect the older generation. When our organization was created, we had 4,500 war veterans. Our organization is 40 years old today. There are 34 war veterans left. We do everything to preserve the memory and look up to the veteran organization of Nizhnekamskneftekhim, we feel that there is support from the leadership," said Grigory Kitanov.

“The easiest thing we can do is pay attention”

The Council of Veterans of the Great Patriotic War and Labour acts as a link between the company's administration, the company's trade union organization and former employees who are on well-deserved rest, which Nizhnekamskneftekhim also always supports. Voluntary health insurance contracts have been signed with non-working pensioners. There is a preferential right to receive preferential vouchers to health resorts and rest homes for participants of the Great Patriotic War, soldiers-internationalists, Chernobyl veterans, participants in combat operations in flash points and home front workers. Veterans of the enterprise receive a non-state pension in addition to the state pension, which Nizhnekamskneftekhim pays monthly out of its profit. One-time payments for anniversaries and a system of financial assistance are provided.

“I am a veteran of Nizhnekamskneftekhim and have worked here for more than 45 years. I am very proud to be a veteran of this company. There are all conditions here, you can come here — and your problems will be resolved. When my health failed, I was given a trip to a sanatorium. I improved my health," said Vasil Kamalov, a veteran of production, who also came to the opening of the new premises of the Council of Veterans.

The participants of the Great Patriotic War receive special support from the company. If necessary, they are helped with repairs in the apartment, in providing medicines, in solving household issues, organising recreation and treatment.

“This is done not only for the older generation, it should be seen and heard by the younger generation because a person who has tied his fate with Nizhnekamskneftekhim, he ties his fate not only for the period of work, but he knows that he will not be abandoned after he retires but will be supported, no matter what problem arises, all issues will be resolved. This is what you need to know and hear and convey it to the younger generation, that if you come to work at Nizhnekamskneftekhim, your entire life cycle will be under the company's attention," said Ayrat Safin, the director general of Nizhnekamskneftekhim.

After the opening of the new premises of the Veterans' Council, the company's management and trade union committee presented its staff with a new laptop, camera, tea sets and wished them success in their work.

“We have decided to support this initiative. The management supported it. Our shortcoming was that we did not pay due attention to this before. Now we have tried to make up for lost time. I think this room for the Council of Veterans will be very useful and comfortable for the organisation of work and for employees, for your visitors and for our veterans. They are far older and most sensitive. The easiest thing we can do is pay attention, listen, and sort out the issues on the merits. As a rule, these are everyday questions, but there are many of them. Therefore, we wish you good health and success to the entire team," said Ruslan Shigabutdinov.

“Therefore, to the maximum of our capabilities, forces and desires, we will support such work related to memory, with veterans, with veterans of our production, and in this direction we will always pay due attention," he stressed.

On the same day, the delegation visited the new football stadium and sanatorium Korabelnaya Roscha.

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By Lilia Yegorova, Lutsia Kashapova. Photo: Maksim Platonov
Tatarstan