Alabuga Skills 2024 sums up the results

Awarding in two stages

So far, he professional skills competition has a modest history. It was first held on the initiative of the head of the Yelabuga district of Tatarstan, Rustem Nuriev, in 2020 as a municipal one, but a year later it acquired a republican scale and since then it has been annually adding in the number of sites and competencies, in the number of participants, and in geography. This time it has gone beyond the region, becoming open.

For the third year in a row, professional competitions have been held under the patronage of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the republic. Therefore, the winners of the competition are awarded at the site of the final board meeting of the ministry — with the participation of the rais of the republic, Rustam Minnikhanov, and the deputy prime minister of the Republic of Tatarstan — minister of industry and trade of Tatarstan, Oleg Korobchenko.

“The country, the republic needs a huge number of professionals. And this competition, as they say, is appropriate. Thank you very much to the district administration for organising and holding Alabuga Skills and to all participants of the competition," Oleg Korobchenko emphasised on February 12, in Kazan, presenting awards to those who won the first places in their competencies.

The silver and bronze medalists of Alabuga Skills 2024 were gathered in an equally solemn atmosphere a few days later in Yelabuga — at the site of the city Palace of Culture. The participants of the celebration began to gather almost an hour before the appointed time. A violin duet and... a transformer helped to brighten up the expectation, obviously symbolising the limitless possibilities of technological progress.

Almost fifty awardees

24 competitive disciplines. As a consequence: there are 48 second and third places. There were almost no empty seats left in the great hall of the Recreation Center: the winners themselves, official guests, and support groups. More-than-half-an-hour ceremony awaited the audience, where congratulations and awards were alternated with creative gifts.

Five representatives from TAIF-NK JSC came to the ceremony: three winners -universal turner Alexander Osipov (the third in his discipline) and welder Rustem Khosnullin and electrician Airat Khusnutdinov, who won silver, and they were accompanied by Anton Tukhvatullin, the head of the technical training group of TAIF-NK JSC, and Vladimir Gatunok, the assistant director general of the company.

Second attempt

An interesting point: for each of the three winners from TAIF-NK JSC, this professional skills competition has been the second in a row.

Rustem Khusnullin took part in the Alabuga Skills 2022. Then he became the second in the competence of Electric and Gas Welder of Manual Arc Welding. In 2024, he repeated the success of two years ago. Dmitry Guskov, the deputy minister of industry and trade of the Republic of Tatarstan, received the well-deserved award.

“I was ready to be offered to take part in professional skills competitions. Therefore, when the management asked if I was ready, I immediately answered in the affirmative," the specialist of the repair and mechanical workshop at TAIF-NK Oil Refinery shared with the journalist of Realnoe Vremya.

The young specialist has worked at he company for 4.5 years. Why TAIF-NK? Rustem Khusnullin says it was a fortuity. Just a piece of luck for him:

“At that time, I submitted my resume to several companies at once. Quite a lot. TAIF-NK was the first to call. They were lucky to get a good specialist," the welder smiles.

As for choosing a profession, everything is simple here:

“Almost all my friends went into this profession, so did I. And I have never regretted my choice since that time," admitted the silver medalist of the professional skills competition.

The Realnoe Vremya's group met with Ayrat Khusnutdinov, an electrician of the 5th category at TAIF-NK Oil Refinery, met at the Alabuga Skills site exactly a year ago. Then, for a specialist working in the company since 2012, the professional skills competition had been the first. He was a little worried, he didn't have enough time and... was left without a prize. He's been saving up a good professional “anger” for a year, working on mistakes and now he is ready to accept congratulations.

“Difficulties? No, there were no difficulties at all. Maybe the tasks have become easier, or maybe I myself have become more experienced. And I met the deadline this time," the silver medalist of Alabuga Skills 2024 answered seriously and thoroughly to the journalist of Realnoe Vremya.

As for the choice of profession and place of work, the specialist, by his own admission, did not consider any other options:

“My father works for TAIF-NK. That's why I knew right away that I would go to work here," he stressed.

The diploma of the prize-winner was presented to Ayrat Khusnutdinov by Gennady Baganov, the chairman of the Council of Veterans of the Yelabuga municipal district.

Universal turner Alexander Osipov won bronze at the competition. Like his colleagues, this has been not his first participation at Alabuga Skills. However, last time he competed in the miller discipline. Such a change-over is not a problem for a specialist who has worked for TAIF-NK JSC for 5 years (before that he had worked for Nizhnekamskneftekhim for 10 years). He is a machine operator of a wide profile.

The reason for the change of production 5 years ago was explained simply:

“Sometimes you need to change something in your life. And here is a new equipment, a new factory. I wanted to try myself. I like it," he told the journalist.

He chose his profession thoughtfully at the time. Among the options were a welder, a locksmith, and a universal turner. He chose the latter. But he did not consider cabinet directions at all. He is sure that he made the right choice then, especially relevant today:

“Working professions — it is interesting. And it is necessary. This is an opportunity to see the result of what was made with your own hands. Turning a piece of metal into the right part is worth a lot. Especially now, at such a difficult time. Thanks to the people of our working professions, the enterprises are working. You can't go and buy every detail now, and you won't order it so easily. But we produce them. We manufacture a lot of experimental parts, and we make new decisions. All this is done by our hands," Alexander Osipov noted with pride for his work and the work of his colleagues.

When asked what turned out to be the most difficult during the competition, he said that there were no serious difficulties. A certain discomfort was that he had to work not on his own equipment and not with his own tools, and the that he had to work not the usual steel, but duralumin.

The diploma of the third degree was presented to the winner by the head of the Executive Committee of the Yelabuga municipal district, Elmira Akhmadeeva.

“No robots can replace a professional”

The competition has not only a competitive function. Certainly, it is important to identify the best of the best and mark them. But even more importantly, what an example and incentive for those who are now choosing a future profession are given by those who are being honoured on stage like this. This was told by almost all the distinguished guests of the ceremony.

Moreover:

“It is clear that robotisation is underway, but no robot can replace the professional work of a human specialist. Any industry knows that there is an acute problem in personnel. And this competition is a bright event in the popularisation of working professions," Dmitry Guskov, the deputy minister of industry and trade of the Republic of Tatarstan, emphasised from the stage.

“I believe that you and I are patriots, because through love for the profession, commitment to our enterprises, we prove daily how much we are all interested in the economic prosperity and sovereignty of our country. Thank you for your work," said Elvira Fomina, the head of the educational cluster of Alabuga SEZ.

And everyone who took the stage emphasised that next year all the current winners and each of the participants of the competition are again expected on the hospitable Yelabuga land for the jubilee, fifth professional skills competition. It promises to become even more ambitious, powerful and memorable.