Gazprom Neft is reforming its management structure

As Kommersant learned, Gazprom (MOEX: GAZP) Neft is carrying out a significant reform of its management structure, which will now be similar to Gazprom. The departments will be supervised directly by the deputy chairmen of the board, and the positions of deputy general directors will be abolished. The production block will report to Anton Dzhalyabov, a native of Gazprom, who joined Gazprom Neft last August. The former curator of the block, one of the key top managers of Gazprom Neft Vadim Yakovlev, under whom the company’s production doubled, will leave his post. Kommersant’s interlocutors see in the management reform signs of increased control on the part of the parent company.

The management structure of Gazprom Neft will be changed and harmonized with the parent company, Gazprom, Kommersant’s interlocutors familiar with the situation told. As a result, the Gazprom Neft directorate, as well as the positions of deputy general directors, are abolished. Instead of directorates, departments will be created, which will be managed directly by the deputy chairmen of the board of Gazprom Neft. Some current deputy general directors of the company will not receive the position of deputy chairman and will take the role of heads of departments. According to Kommersant’s interlocutor, the reorganization will not affect the number of personnel and the level of wages.

Thus, the key exploration and production department of Gazprom Neft will be overseen in the position of deputy chairman by Anton Dzhalyabov, a native of Gazprom, who joined the company in August 2023 as deputy general director-chief engineer. Mr. Dzhalyabov worked at Gazprom for about 19 years, and before joining Gazprom Neft, he headed the Gazprom Dobycha Noyabrsk company for two years. Kommersant’s interlocutors associated this appointment with the strengthening of Gazprom’s influence on the oil company.

The importance of Gazprom Neft for the entire group after the loss of the gas market in Europe has increased many times – in 2023, without taking into account the oil business, the Gazprom group would have been unprofitable.

The current deputy general director of Gazprom Neft for exploration and production, Vadim Yakovlev, will leave the company. Kommersant’s interlocutors note that Mr. Yakovlev was offered the position of head of the exploration and production department under the supervision of the new deputy chairman, but he refused. Several Kommersant interlocutors note that April 4 was Mr. Yakovlev’s last day of work in his previous position. “The next stage is ahead, already outside the group of companies,” one of Kommersant’s interlocutors quotes a message from a top manager on the corporate portal, in which Mr. Yakovlev thanked his colleagues for their joint work. Kommersant’s source claims that the production department will be headed by the head of the specialized directorate, Sergei Doctor.

Vadim Yakovlev played an important role in the fact that Gazprom Neft, during the time he led the production block, doubled hydrocarbon production, becoming the third largest oil company in Russia.

The company is the only one in the country engaged in industrial oil production on the Arctic shelf (the Prirazlomnoye field was launched in 2013), and is also a leader in complex drilling and the penetration of digital solutions.

According to Kommersant, Vadim Yakovlev may temporarily remain an adviser to the head of the board of Gazprom Neft, Alexander Dyukov. A Kommersant source close to Vadim Yakovlev said that the manager “has already begun to think about changing his field of activity quite a long time ago,” having worked at Gazprom Neft for almost 17 years, 12 of which he headed the exploration and production division. He recalled that in 2021 Gazprom Neft achieved the strategic goal of producing 100 million tons of hydrocarbons per year. “The successful completion of this stage seemed like a good moment to switch to new projects,” believes Kommersant’s interlocutor. However, during the period of Covid restrictions and other “difficult external circumstances,” the priority task was to ensure the smooth operation of the company, so “personal plans had to be put on hold for a while,” he explains.

The head of the board of directors of Top Contact, Artur Shamilov, believes that the reorganization of the management structure in the image and likeness of the parent structure will obviously lead to increased influence of Gazprom on its subsidiaries. Previously, the company’s management, having some managerial autonomy, successfully achieved high results year after year.

Dmitry Kozlov