2.4. Stakeholder Engagement during the Pandemic
The COVID-19-related restrictions impacted the format of stakeholder engagement.
There was an increase in the number of conference calls. Many events took place online, including the annual General Shareholders Meeting, which involved absentee voting.
In 2020, the Group revised its arrangements for charity and sponsorship projects, reducing the number of attendees, changing the formats and timelines and ensuring sanitary and epidemiological safety for everyone involved.
The online format — in particular, specially developed platforms — helped attract more people to sports and cultural events.
PJSC Gazprom became a partner of stopcoronavirus.rf (стопкоронавирус.рф), Russia’s main official source of information on the COVID-19 pandemic, by providing its commercial airtime to promote the website. More than 50 million people watched the commercial on federal TV channels as part of this partnership.
The pandemic also shifted the focus in stakeholder engagement. In addition to implementing the scheduled programs, Gazprom Group companies actively helped local communities across its areas/regions of operation in their fight against COVID-19. The Group placed special emphasis on assisting medical workers and institutions. For example:
- Gazprom supported the conversion of the Lenexpo Exhibition Complex in St. Petersburg into a temporary hospital for patients with mild cases of COVID-19, investing over RUB 98 million in these measures. The Company ensured uninterrupted operation of the hospital’s infrastructure and security at its outside perimeter and arranged cleaning services.
- 200,000 biological protection suits were donated to the Government of St. Petersburg to equip the doctors fighting COVID-19.
- PJSC Gazprom donated RUB 20 million to the Perm Territory to purchase protective suits, respirators, masks and gloves.
- Gazprom Transgaz Ukhta LLC donated RUB 15 million to the Ukhta City Hospital.
- In 2020, Gazprom Pererabotka Blagoveshchensk LLC assisted the Amur Region, the Svobodnensky District, and the town of Svobodny in purchasing medical and personal protective equipment, medications and sanitizers. Over RUB 1.5 million was spent on hygiene products, linens, and similar items. Gazprom Pererabotka Blagoveshchensk also helped add almost 200 hospital beds in Svobodny (an infectious diseases service at the Amur GPP construction site and a new infectious diseases ward at the Svobodny Hospital).
- Gazprom Dobycha Astrakhan LLC spent RUB 2.45 million to purchase medical equipment and gear for the Alexandro-Mariinskaya Regional Clinical Hospital.
- Gazprom Dobycha Yamburg LLC spent RUB 2 million to buy an ambulance for the Tazovskaya Central District Hospital.
- Gazprom Dobycha Noyabrsk LLC donated some RUB 16 million to hospitals in Noyabrsk and Lensk.
- Gazprom Pererabotka LLC provided RUB 13 million in financial aid to nine hospitals.
- Gazprom Transgaz Tomsk LLC provided a total of RUB 12.9 million to purchase medical equipment and products for over 20 healthcare institutions in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), the Khabarovsk, Kamchatka and Altai Territories, and the Omsk, Amur, Novosibirsk and Tomsk Regions, as well as Kuzbass.
- Gazprom Transgaz Saint Petersburg LLC signed a donation agreement to finance a research project on the development of a peptide-based drug for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 at the St. Petersburg Pasteur Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology.
- Gazprom Neft donated medical and personal protective equipment and medications worth more than RUB 400 million to healthcare institutions in its regions of operation.
- Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat spent RUB 1.5 million to improve the working conditions for healthcare professionals and support personnel at the Salavat Town Hospital.
Due to pandemic-related restrictions, public transportation was suspended in the Astrakhan Region. Gazprom Dobycha Astrakhan LLC provided corporate buses for village residents involved in continuous service in the regional center (medical personnel, bakery workers, employees of law enforcement agencies, etc.).
One of the most significant forms of support during the pandemic was volunteering. Gazprom Group employees volunteered to deliver food and medications to the families of healthcare professionals and the elderly. Moreover, the Company’s personnel participated in the work of dedicated call centers and anti-COVID-19 task forces.
During the pandemic, the Group paid special attention to protecting the rights and interests of the indigenous minorities of the North:
- Gazprom Dobycha Nadym LLC arranged medical assistance for nomadic people at the Bovanenkovo medical complex.
- Gazprom Dobycha Yamburg LLC donated RUB 6 million to the Taz Division of the Yamal for Posterity! association of indigenous minorities of the North.