The International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples is celebrated on 9 August. Each year, Rosneft and its subsidiaries carry out unique projects to support indigenous peoples in the regions where they operate.

Preservation of the culture and way of life of the indigenous peoples of the North is one of the key areas of Rosneft’s social policy. Support from oil companies improves the living conditions of many indigenous families living in the areas where production activities take place.

In the Krasnoyarsk territory, thanks to Vostok Oil’s participation in the co-financing of the regional programme for the resettlement of indigenous residents from dilapidated and emergency housing in the village of Nosok, Taimyrsky Dolgano-Nenets district, this year six families will receive the keys to their new apartments and the construction of five two-family houses adapted to living conditions in the Far North will be organised. In 2022, 24 Taimyr families from the villages of Nosok and Karaul have already moved into new homes.

In the Purovsky district of the YNAO, RN-Purneftegaz revived the national settlement of Kharampur, which became the cultural centre of the forest Nenets. The enterprise has built a fish-processing workshop, a library, 20 capital houses designed as traditional tents, and a boarding school where reindeer herders’ and fishermen’s children learn their native language and traditional crafts.

The replenishment of valuable fish species in the waters of the Pur-Taz basin has begun with the support of the oil companies. Cage systems have been purchased for the Kharampurskaya farming community, which employs local people, and artificial breeding of salmon and whitefish species has begun.

RN-Vankor and RN-Uvatneftegaz regularly supply the indigenous people with fuel and equipment needed for living and traditional fishing in the harsh conditions of the North: snowmobiles, boat motors, electric generators, motor pumps and chainsaws. Last year, RN-Vankor bought 16 wagons for the reindeer herders of Taimyr, equipped with everything needed for comfortable accommodation in the Taymyr tundra during the fishing season.

Samotlorneftegaz is implementing a unique IT project in KhMAO-Yugra to connect Khanty and Mansi families, who live on their ancestral lands and lead a traditional lifestyle, to the Internet. For three years, 60 access points have been installed in 7 neighbourhoods of the district, giving almost 3.5 thousand people access to the World Wide Web.

In the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Taas-Yuryakh Neftegazodobycha provides substantial support to the clan communities of the Sadynsky national Evenki heritage, as well as to the settlement of the Botuobuyinsky heritage, on the history and modernity of which a book is to be published this year.

RN-Yuganskneftegaz and RN-Uvatneftegaz contribute to the preservation of indigenous cultures and traditional economic activities. The oil companies provide construction materials and equipment to the camps, deliver food to the residences, pay for medical care and education, and prepare children for the school year. RN-Yuganskneftegaz has repeatedly won and been awarded prizes in the annual Black Gold of Yugra district competition for its cooperation with the indigenous population.

The number of indigenous forums and festivals organised with Rosneft’s support is growing every year. This year RN-Uvatneftegaz organised the first Festival of the Indigenous Peoples of the North of the Tyumen region in the village of Uvat, which began six years ago as a folk crafts fair. The Komsomolsk Refinery initiated a festival of the national culture of the Nanai people of the North and Priamurye in the village of Bilgo. And Vostsibneftegaz and Slavneft-Krasnoyarskneftegaz organised a festival of northern art in Krasnoyarsk. Its numerous participants became acquainted with the objects of national creativity, folklore and also became guests of the original defile of clothes by designers of the indigenous peoples of the North.

RN-Vankor hosted the first EcoArctic Forum in Taimyr, where representatives from the Company, authorities, indigenous peoples and the scientific community discussed current issues related to preserving fragile Arctic ecosystems and supporting the traditional way of life of small indigenous minorities living in Taymyr.

To mark the International Day of the World’s Indigenous People, RN-Uvatneftegaz and the Komsomolsk Refinery organised excursions to the Uvas Mir Khot ethnographic camp in the Tyumen region and to the museum in the village of Verkhnyaya Ekon in the Khabarovsk territory, where visitors can learn about the culture of the indigenous minorities of the North.

RN-Vankor, RN-Uvatneftegaz, Tyumenneftegaz, Samotlorneftegaz, RN-Purneftegaz, Rospan International, Verkhnechonskneftegaz, Taas-Yuryakh Neftegazodobycha, Slavneft-Krasnoyarskneftegaz, Vostsibneftegaz and the Komsomolsk Refinery support important national holidays of indigenous peoples, such as Reindeer Herders’ and Fishermen’s Day, Crow Day, professional skills competitions and sporting events in the regions where they operate.

The participants demonstrate their skills in reindeer sled races, hunting by skis, rowing on oblas (boats), throwing tynzyan to the khorey (a harness thrown over a long pole used to chase reindeer), stacking and transporting firewood on sleds, as well as fitting and disassembling reindeer harness. The festivals attract large crowds who come to discover indigenous traditions, learn about folklore, take part in master classes, taste national cuisine and buy traditional handicrafts.

The Company’s subsidiaries – Vostsibneftegaz, RN-Purneftegaz and RN-Uvatneftegaz – implement various grant and charity projects. Over the nine years of the grant programme, Vostsibneftegaz has supported 26 projects by scientists with applied significance for the preservation of the traditional way of life of the indigenous peoples of Evenkia. This year, with the support of the oil companies, researchers will continue to study the red deer – maral, assess the state of the wolf population and analyse the vegetation cover that has suffered from natural fires in the Evenkia area.

RN-Vankor held its first scientific grant competition this year, and the winners will study the state of aquatic bio-resources in the Yenisei Bay of the Kara Sea, analyse the number of goose-like birds in Taymir, and assess the state and dynamics of Taimyr’s vegetation cover. The results of the research will be used to develop measures to conserve ecosystems and populations of red-listed animals and birds – bioindicators that inhabit indigenous territories.

Rosneft enterprises make a significant contribution to preserving the cultural heritage and unique languages of the peoples of the North. RN-Vankor published a children’s edition of the Russian-Dolgan alphabet of the indigenous peoples of Taimyr, Vostsibneftegaz supported the publication of the alphabet book Evenkia: from A to Z, the monograph New Projects for the Revival of Evenki Language and Culture, a musical album by the Togokon («Ogonyok») folk ensemble, and the digital Evenki-Russian dictionary Evedy-Luchady Tureruk.

Rosneft
Information Division
August 9, 2023

Keywords: Social News 2023