Employment practices

Business principle: People

We treat each other with respect, fairness and decency. We respect and support the different cultures of our colleagues and the communities in which we work. We value the diversity of people, beliefs, skills, and experience.

HR Policy

Attracting and retaining qualified and talented professionals is one of the priorities required for successful business.

KPO strives to ensure competitive labour market conditions among oil companies in Kazakhstan, to attract high-potential candidates and to reduce the risk of staff turnover. Another important factor for the KPO attractiveness as an employer is due performance of undertaken commitments and respect for the employees’ labour rights.

At KPO, we offer equal opportunities to everyone and treat everyone equally and do not discriminate in any way based on race, colour, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, disability, ethnic origin or nationality. This helps us ensure we always draw on the widest possible talent pool and attract more capable and talented people. All employment decisions, including hiring, evaluation, promotion, training, development, discipline, compensation and termination, are based solely on objective factors, including merit, qualifications, work performance and business considerations.

The approach of KPO to increase of local content in staff involves both replacing expatriate personnel with national staff and implementation of the local staff professional training and development. This helps ensuring that all operations are carried out competently, with high quality and in compliance with international standards. Such approach contributes to the replacement of foreign personnel with minimum risks for production activities, and the achievement of the set goals with the highest quality. To this end, KPO develops the Annual Training Plan, which is implemented taking into account the individual needs of each employee. Provision of training programmes allows the Company:

• to fulfil the requirements of the FPSA Annex 7 related to the training, re-training and professional development for Kazakhstani employees consistent with International Good Oil Field Practices, as well as HSE and industrial hygiene requirements;
• to deliver programmes that сontribute to the increase of local content in staff and to supply the organization with skilled, qualified and competent workforce;
• to undertake training activities in order to achieve operational targets;
• to deliver specific and mandatory HSE certified training programmes for the Company’s personnel, required by RoK legislation, the Company’s internal procedures and best international practices.

Diversity and inclusiveness

Developing an inclusive culture, respecting and valuing the contribution of each employee, regardless of gender, age, nationality and other factors, is important for the Company’s success.

The KPO team is multinational. We have residents from all regions of Kazakhstan, although vast majority of the employees come from the West Kazakhstan region constituting 82 % of the total workforce. Expatriates from different countries of the world make up about 6 % of the entire team.

Women make up 27 % of the total workforce. The predominance of men among the staff is due to the characteristics of oil & gas sector with primarily work on site, where gender imbalance is traditionally observed, especially in technical positions.

Management promotes equal opportunities for all employees, regardless of gender. Women constitute 17 % among managerial positions (personnel categories 1-2). KPO strives for gender balance and diversity in the Company’s leadership.

An analysis of the age composition shows that the largest group of employees is aged 31 to 50 (67 %). It is important to consider the presence of young employees (8 %) for bringing in new ideas, as well as experienced senior employees (24 %), who bring wisdom and extensive experience. This diverse age composition contributes to an innovative and dynamic work process. Developing an inclusive culture, respecting and valuing the contribution of every age group, is important for the Company’s success.

At KPO we also have employees with limited abilities. We provide them with individual support, including hybrid working schedule, to ensure more favourable working conditions enabling them to contribute to the overall success of the Company.

Safety is paramount in the oil and gas industry, and therefore, heightened requirements for health suitability are imposed. Colleagues with disabilities mainly occupy office positions.

During the 2023, the Company held various events that allow employees to give feedback to management and to HR department. These include the KPO Townhall, the annual Employee Opinion Survey, the HR Open Day, and occasional coffee break meetings with directors. Additionally, feedback is collected in the process of personal engagement with line managers and through the Hotline available 24 hours. Once feedback is analysed, HR department publishes answers to the most pressing questions on the Intranet, and looks for solutions to optimize the identified problems.

Overall, KPO strives to make inclusion a core aspect of its corporate culture. We continue developing inclusive mindset across the Company, emphasizing the unique skills of each individual employee. This topic is also covered in the mandatory annual training for employees on the company’s Code of Conduct.

KPO Female Network

The KPO Women’s Club was launched in May 2019 as a platform where women can share knowledge, provide mutual support and strengthen their connections. During the five years of the Club’s operation, the Company held a number of events to involve female employees in discussions on multiple hot topics both at work and in life.

The mission of the KPO Women’s Club is to promote the vision ‘Women Support Women’.

The goal of the Club is to create and maintain a positive culture of mutual support among female employees in the Company. We want KPO to be a safe and friendly working environment where every woman can unleash her potential and reach any career heights congruent to her talents and ambitions.

As an ESG-oriented company, KPO is committed to a gender-balanced human resource. In this regard, the Women’s Club supports ideas aimed at empowering women in the oil and gas industry and further promoting them to leadership roles.

In addition, as part of the personnel development programmes conducted by the KPO HR Department, the mentoring initiative has been implemented where special attention is paid to the professional development of women, and an open dialogue is held on the importance of getting rid of cliches.

In 2023, the KPO Female Club held three sessions which were conducted both off- and online such as to include as many people as possible of those wishing to attend. During the sessions discussed were such topics as balance between career and family, self-care, introduction to sports and a healthy lifestyle, personal development through travelling. Among the speakers there were both women who hold leadership positions and inspire colleagues by their example, and enterprising young employees.

Additionally, speakers from other organizations and companies are invited. We believe that such sessions help our employees to get a boost of inspiration, insights and increase their social activity.

The KPO Women’s Club adopts the best practices of oil and gas and energy companies to support working women and empower them in the industry. In October 2023, KPO participated in the VI Forum of the KAZENERGY Women’s Energy Club “EMPOWERHER ENERGY FORUM”. Klara Pykhanova, a member of the Women’s Club Committee, spoke at the forum on behalf of KPO and highlighted the Company’s activities in the field of sustainable development. On the Forum’s side-lines, Slushash Izbassarova, KPO Director of Human Resources and Service Support was awarded the KAZENERGY Medal for the decades long active contribution to the development of the oil and gas industry. In addition, based on the results of the KAZENERGY Drawing Competition, the drawings of five KPO employees and their children were used for promotional items of KAZENERGY.

In December 2023, a delegation of the KPO Women’s Club took part in the forum “Women’s Participation in the ESG Agenda in the Fuel and Energy Complex” organized by Embamunaigas JSC. The sessions discussed such topics as the role of women in the promotion and implementation of various social and environmental initiatives, gender balance in enterprises, ESG approaches to reducing inequality, and others. Aigerim Sarguzhieva, Chairperson of the KPO Women’s Club, took the floor as a speaker at the session “The Role of the Women’s Movement in the Development of Society” and spoke about the ongoing activities of the KPO Women’s Club and its plans for the future. At the final session of the KPO Women’s Club at the end of the year, the members of the KPO delegation shared their experience of the forum.

Personnel statistics

As of end 2023, the total number of KPO personnel made up 4,080 people with 3,818 of them being RoK citizens and 262 other countries’ citizens.

The graph 7 shows the ratio of personnel, taking into account the specifics of labour relations, to the total headcount of the Company at the end of the reporting period, broken down by years.

As of end 2023, the number of permanent employees was 4,002 people, of them 1,031 women and 2,971 men. The number of temporary employees totalled 78, of them 59 women and 19 men. KPO offers only full-time job.

Fig. 10.KPO personnel by region, 2023

Tab. 18.Percentage of employees per employee category by gender and age, 2023

Graph 9 shows the turnover of KPO and sending parties employees in 2023 broken down by age groups regardless of the type of contract.

Graph 10 shows the turnover of KPO and sending parties employees in 2023 broken down by gender. In 2023, the new employees hired in KPO made up 5.9 % of the average number of employees, in comparison to 2022 – 4.9 %. The dropout made up 5.3 %.

Formula of calculation of a turnover rate has been changed compared to 2022 data and includes a number of employees resigned on a voluntary basis, those who retired and those who were dismissed under disciplinary penalties in the reporting period.

The turnover made 5.3 % in 2023 versus 4.9 % in 2022 (see Graph 11).

Graph 11.Dynamics of employees’ turnover, 2019–2023

KPO respects the right of its employees to retain their positions. Following the RoK Labour Code, an employee has the right for an unpaid leave to attend to a child up to the age of three years. In the 2023 reporting year, 204 % of employees, who took parental leave, returned to work in the reporting period, with a 96 % retention rate. In 2023, the return-to-work rate turned out to be high, because some employees who took parental leave for more than 1 year returned in 2023.

Graph 12 shows the number of employees, who took a parental leave and a leave to attend to a child up to the three years age, and of those, who returned to work after parental leave ended, by gender, in 2023. Also, pregnant women working at the field are usually transferred to work in the city.

Graph 12.Child care leaves at KPO for 2023

EMPLOYEE RELATIONS

Grievance mechanisms

The Company has a few grievance mechanisms: applications to HR & Services Directorate either directly or through Trade Union, and via the anonymous Hotline.

In 2023, the work of the Labour Relations and Disciplinary Investigations department was aimed at preventing labour discipline violations. In particular, during the reporting period, about 42 training sessions were held with the Company’s employees, including personnel at the field, offices in Uralsk and Aksai, as well as at the terminals in Bolshoi Chagan and Atyrau. In addition, a pop-up message communication channel was launched on strict compliance with the Labour Regulations and other acts of the employer.

Thanks to preventive work in 2023, HR received 67 applications, including grievances, which showed a decrease in the number of labour discipline violations by approximately 30 % compared to the same period in 2022. Of the 67, 43 came through the Labour Relations Department’s grievance mechanism, and 24 through the Hotline. The received grievances addressed such issues as labour misconduct, employment, conflict resolution, abuse of power, misconduct with contractor employees. All received grievances were reviewed and resolved, including in the pre-trial procedure and at the stage before the cases’ consideration in the Conciliation Commission.

It is also worth noting the work carried out on non-material motivation of our employees. Thus, during the reporting period, 25 employees of the company were awarded various awards, including departmental awards of the Ministry of Energy of the RoK, the KAZENERGY association, as well as on behalf of the Akim of the West Kazakhstan region and the Burlin district.

A program to support a healthy lifestyle and sports activities was successfully launched and implemented, under which nine major sporting events were held jointly with trade unions: four football competitions, a volleyball tournament, a basketball tournament, a wrestling tournament “Kazaksha Kures”, a table tennis tournament, and a swimming tournament.

Also, with the active participation of the HR department in Aksai, two clean-up days were organized.

Engagement with Trade Unions

Collective bargaining is essential in the Company. Trade unions play a key role in supporting and protecting employees’ rights. Trade unions develop draft Collective Agreements addressing various aspects of social and labour relations and bargain with the Company to improve working conditions of the employees. Four Trade Unions represent the interests of KPO employees:

• Public Association “Local Trade Union of Karachaganak Petroleum Operating B.V. employees”,
• Public Association “Karachaganak Local Professional Union of KPO employees and contractors”,
• Public Association “TRUST” Local Trade Union of Karachaganak Petroleum Operating B.V. employees and contractor companies”,
• Public Association “Burlin Local Trade Union of Oil and Gas Workers”.

Provisions of the Collective Agreement are applied to all KPO employees regardless of their membership in the Trade Unions.

Under the terms of the current Collective Agreement for 2022–2024, a number of new social payments and benefits were increased and introduced, such as the provision of advance payments, social assistance to families of employees raising disabled children, assistance to families of employees raising three or more children of school age, including children of 18 years old, the payment for combining duties has been increased in the amount of at least 10 % of the monthly base salary. In addition, a number of benefits were agreed for veterans who retired from the Karachaganakgazprom JSC or the Company, including an increase of a bonus for the Oil & Gas Workers Day.

In 2024, negotiations with Trade Union organizations are planned to conclude the new Collective Agreement for 2025–2027.

TRADE UNIONS PLAY A KEY ROLE IN SUPPORTING AND PROTECTING EMPLOYEES’ RIGHTS.

Voluntary Dissolution of Employment Relationship

Starting 2017, the Company supports the application of the Voluntary Dissolution of Employment Relationship Programme as part of the actual Collective Agreement and pursuant to the RoK Labour Code dated 2017 (Art. 52). The programme applies to men aged 58-63 and women aged 56 – 61. In 2023, 57 KPO employees applied for the voluntary dissolution of employment relations (42 employees in 2022, 43 employees in 2021, 43 employees in 2020, 42 employees in 2019, 24 employees in 2018 and 45 employees in 2017).

In 2022–2023, the Programme for Voluntary Dissolution of Employment Relations on a nonrecurring basis was not applied and consequently closed. This programme was introduced one-time in 2021 to achieve goals for revising the number of employees that have been reached.

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

Success of any business largely depends on qualification, skills and motivation of employees, therefore KPO’s HR policy is aimed at strengthening the leading position in the market and achieving strategic goals through creation and development of a professional team, as well as encouragement of efficient performance of work.

In order to ensure the employee right of remuneration as per qualification, complexity of work, quantity and quality of work performed, as well as working conditions, KPO applies the following tools:

• The remuneration system based on a consistent approach in setting wages;
• The job evaluation process system for effective organizational structure management, as well as to ensure the validity of remuneration;
• Annual Performance and Development Review Procedure;
• Wide range of additional benefits ensuring fair work conditions.

To arrange and apply all the listed tools KPO Reward and Organization department develops the KPO Remuneration, Allowances and Benefits Policy for Kazakhstani Employees. The provisions of the Collective Agreement are taken into account in the Policy. This Policy is annually approved by Joint Operating Committee (JOC)⁹.There is no voting during the Policy approval. Shall one of the parties does not agree with any provision of the Policy, the document is vetoed and being returned for further revision.

According to Art. 5 of Appendix 7 of the FPSA, the Policy is focused on commensurability and competitiveness of remuneration, allowances and benefits for national staff in comparison with appropriate remuneration, allowances and benefits of Kazakhstan oil and gas sector and used as a tool for attraction, retention and encouragement of national staff.

The assurance of the remuneration process is ascertained by KPO internal audit and Parent Companies’ audit¹⁰ evaluated as satisfactory in 2022. This assessment was valid also for 2023.

According to the Remuneration Policy for Kazakhstani Employees, a base salary for national staff is established on the basis of the assigned personal grade, which in turn has special range. Grade is used to identify relative importance of a certain job position and its levels at the Company’s positions hierarchy. Grades are assigned to all employees including top management.

Tab. 19.Ratio of average basic salary of women to men by employee categoriesв

KPO top management except Deputy General Director and Digitalization and Continuous Improvement Manager are secondees from the KPO Parent companies. Their remuneration is set and paid by the Parent Companies. The Сompany applies a unified approach to establishing the fixed and variable parts of remuneration for all employees who have an employment contract with KPO, including directors, and uses a unified grade structure of remuneration for all its employees, which is the basis for determining wages.

Tab. 20.The annual total compensation ratio for the organization’s highest-paid individual to the median annual total compensation for all direct employees, 2020–2023

KPO also takes into account the remuneration rate at the RoK oil and gas market and performs annual review, as a result the necessity to correct the remuneration rate for the certain positions can be applied.

Annually KPO participates in the Oil and Gas Sector Salary Survey conducted by Willis Towers Watson. Based on the results of the KPO wages comparison with the oil and gas labour market for 2022, in 2023 we have increased wages for over 1,100 employees in order to support competitiveness. The review conducted in 2023 has shown that the average salary at KPO was higher than an average salary in the West Kazakhstan Oblast. Whereby, in 2024 we plan to review our approach to the employees’ attracting and retaining.

The minimum salary of specialists recruited by KPO is provided in the Collective Agreement and set regardless of an employee’s gender.

Salary for KPO employees as well as for sending parties’ employees (from recruitment agencies) is set based on the single labour remuneration system applied in KPO that highlights no difference in the level of minimum salary for both categories of employees.

Pursuant to the existing procedures, every year KPO offers an upgrade on the employees’ remuneration, including indexation of the monthly basic salary not lower than official inflation rate in the RoK at the beginning of the year, annual performance bonus for those, who received positive ratings, and also individual pay rises and additional lump sum payments.

The indexation of wages reflecting the inflation level for 2022, by agreement with Trade Unions, was divided into two stages:

1. Early general salary increase by 7.5 % from the 1^st of August 2022;
2. Increase in wages by 13 % from the 1^st of January 2023.

Therefore, total benefit after two general increases have made up 21.5 %, which is slightly higher the 2022 inflation level of 20.3 % (as per the data of the National Statistics Bureau of the RoK Strategic Planning and Reforms Agency dated January 2023).

All KPO direct employees are provided with a package of benefits, which includes monetary and non-monetary benefits. The most of the benefits are provided for by the Collective Agreement. Under the terms of the Collective Agreement for 2022–2024, KPO pays bonuses on Oil & Gas Worker’s Day, FPSA anniversary as well as financial allowance for health resumption. Benefit amount also depends on individual employee grade. For the sending parties’ employees (from recruitment agencies), the relevant employers’ collective agreements are applied.

In accordance with the Collective agreement KPO grants to employees the right for paid educational leave (14 days per year) to pass examinations at the external study mode. In 2023, 20 employees exercised this right.

Performance and Development Review and quarterly bonus

Performance and Development Review (PDR) is one of the tools of feedback aimed at monitoring and enhancing work efficiency.

To improve and simplify work processes, changes have been made to the 2023 staff performance appraisal and development process.

This change provides timely incentives for the proper performance of work and compliance with labour discipline for those categories of personnel whose work does not imply the achievement of long-term goals. Starting from 1 QTR 2023, Kazakhstani employees belonging to technical auxiliary and support personnel, instead of an annual bonus on the results of performance assessment, receive quarterly bonuses subject to their compliance with the Company’s requirements for HSE and relevant employer acts.

Сurrently the PDR process covers only those Kazakhstani employees, who occupy positions of line managers and specialists. The unchanged condition is that an employee has to have been employed at KPO for no less than half-year.

Early in the year, line managers inform subordinates about their expectations to work performance, behaviour and HSE compliance along with annual targets. Targets are focused on fulfilment of the Company commitments and gradual development and performance improvement.

For employees holding managerial positions, whose goals are identified as Key Performance Indicators, assessment is taken in two stages: assessment of achievements in line with KPIs for this position and assessment of individual work performance.

The unified rating scale applied for PDR process includes “Strong”, “Fully Effective” and “Needs Improvement”.

Starting from 2023, the size of the PDR bonus has been fixed in the “Rules for assessing personnel’s work performance and development.”

DEVELOPMENT OF NATIONAL PERSONNEL

Development of national personnel is a continuous process in KPO. Professional competency is maintained and developed through the training and skill improvement system.

KPO conducts its activities in line with the Programme for Increasing of Local Content in Staff for 2020–2025 authorised by the Authority.

In 2023, 12 positions previously held by expatriate personnel were nationalised, and two positions were abolished. As of December 2023, local employees made up 95 % of the total Company’s staff. In total, in the period of 1999–2023 269 expatriate specialists were replaced with national employees, and 303 positions held by expatriate employees were abolished. The breakdown by categories is presented in table 21.

Табл. 21.Increase of Local Content in KPO staff by categories of employees

Additionally, in accordance with the goals set in this Programme, KPO keeps tracking the local content in contractor personnel registered in the West Kazakhstan Oblast. In 2023, over 30 companies provided their quarterly, bi-annual and annual ‘Local Content in Staff’ reports. The local content in staff within these organizations has made up to 89 % in the category ‘Department / Unit Management’ and 98 % in the category ‘Professional staff / Qualified workers’.

Graph 13 presents the total number of expatriate and local senior and mid-level management at KPO split by age and gender. This includes KPO core structure and temporary projects.

Graph 13.Number of senior and mid-level managers (RoK citizens and expatriates) by age and gender, 2023

Enhanced Development Programme

In order to ensure the continuity of workforce planning and increase local content in staff, KPO implements the Enhanced Development Programme.

The programme is an integral part of the process of creating a talent pool, which guarantees consistent

manpower planning and the implementation of the Nationalization and Succession Planning Programs.

The process is focused on succession planning, selection of talented employees, assessment to reveal their strengths and weaknesses, development and implementation of individual development plans, and as a result appointing them to targeted positions.

The first and second intakes of the Programme were held in the period from 2009 to 2014. The third intake of the Programme continued in the period from 2017 to 2020. The total number of participants in the third intake was 161. By the end of third intake, 56 % of the participants attained the roles as planned; and their individual development plans were completed by 77 %.

In the second half of 2021, KPO launched the fourth intake of the Enhanced Development Programme for the period of 2021–2024. Based on the plan to increase local content in staff, departments’ management nominated high-potential employees for further participation in the selection process.

Of the 79 candidates, 52 employees successfully passed the fourth intake of the Enhanced Development Programme.

In the period of 2022–2024 we will implement the training and development of the participants in accordance with their Enhanced Development Plans.

In 2023, as part of the Enhanced Development Programme a number of leadership events and forums were conducted in order to deploy new tools and successfully apply the obtained knowledge at work.

In 2023, 39 % of participants have occupied the planned positions.

Competence Management System

Competence management system is applied at KPO as one of the most efficient methods for assessing the competency level of personnel.

The system is aimed at achieving and maintaining the required level of competency among technical staff, who work at hazardous industrial facilities, and at reducing and preventing potential incidents and accidents caused by lack of competency. Given the results of conducted competency assessments, the system enables developing tools for further training of personnel and ensuring funds are spent as intended, meanwhile contributing to raising HSE cultural awareness.

As per the Competency Management System (CMS) Policy, any contractor with a high or middle risk level of the contract that work on Company sites or equipment shall develop and operate its own Competency Management System. The contractors’ personnel, responsible for the control and execution of high-risk works, shall have the ability to demonstrate knowledge and practical skills to work safely, technically sound and within the defined boundaries of responsibility. From 2019, the key requirements and rollout stages of such a system are identified during the HSE contractors’ audits.

KPO CMS was certified by Offshore Petroleum Industry Training Organization (OPITO) in 2013. Every three years, the Company undergoes accreditation of the system requiring that compliance audits be conducted annually engaging the OPITO experts. In November 2023, KPO confirmed the competency management system accreditation till November 2024.

The scope of OPITO’s accreditation includes:

• Six profession-oriented specialties: production operators, electrical technicians, instrument technicians, mechanical technicians, lead technicians and supervisors in production sector.
• Six production units and departments, including KPC, Unit 3, Unit 2, Eco Centre, Maintenance and Gathering departments.

In 2023, 741 employees with technical qualification completed initial assessment and received CMS certificates. KPO has reached 68 % of the competency compliance required for technical personnel.

In line with the Competency Management System Expansion Plan 2022–2024, at the end of the II QTR 2023, the Competency Accreditation Programme for Industrial Supervisors working at KPC Chemical Laboratory which began in 2022 was completed. It was further launched in the Field Facilities Modifications Department and also for the Central Maintenance department engineers, specializing in instrumentation and automation and mechanical equipment.

Competency Assessment under 36 approved standards is carried out for over 220 supervisors and engineers. In order to obtain unbiased assessment results, superintendents take on the role of technical experts. Detailed information on the Competency Assessment for industrial supervisors, engineers and workers is provided monthly to the management of the Field and Production Directorate.

One of the areas for improving effectiveness of the KPO Competence Management System was the implementation of a Front-line barrier management (FLBM) project to protect personnel and equipment at Unit-3. As part of the FLBM framework, a huge amount of work has been done to analyze and optimize existing competency standards at all production facilities of the field – KPC, Unit-3, Unit-2, Gathering System, Central Heating Centre, and also has been developed additional competency standards, including standards for personnel of the KEP-1 project.

Within the framework of the competence management system, the Talent Development and Secondment Administration department has a system of the technical and behavioral assessment of personnel. In 2023, over 430 technical and behavioral competency assessments were conducted, based on the results of which 447 individual feedback sessions were provided for employees and their line managers. Technical competencies describe the specific knowledge and skills that are required for certain positions.

Also, as part of the System, a 360-degree assessment is conducted which helps devising an employee’s personal development plan and assuring effective feedback process between an employee and a line manager. The process is conducted through the SAP system.

PERSONNEL TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

Personnel training

Annually, KPO conducts training programmes aimed to achieve the following objectives:

• To enhance the individual job-related competencies of employees, and address operational and career development needs.
• To teach mandatory skills required to perform the job at hazardous production facilities. The training obligations are subject to the RoK legislation and the Company procedures.

In 2023, 97 % of the Company’s local employees were trained or engaged in various professional development programmes, professional training and retraining, and took part in online seminars and conferences.

Besides, in 2023, KPO continued conducting training for employees on the specialized international programmes (see table 22), language skills, and professional and mandatory HSE courses.

Tab. 22.KPO personnel trained on the International Qualification certified programmes in 2020–2023

Training statistics

As responsible organization, KPO ensures annual mandatory HSE training both for its own staff and personnel of its contractor organizations.

In 2023, 649,922 hours of training (576,599 hours in 2022) were held, of which 388,487 were provided to KPO employees (294,951 in 2022), including general education awareness courses on civil compliance, cybersecurity and civil defence topics. The remaining 261,436 hours (281,648 hours in 2022) were spent on the HSE mandatory courses for the contractor organizations’ employees. The 2023 data has been updated with new online training courses.

Totally, in 2023 26,854 people were trained, 3,967 of them – KPO employees and 22,887 – contractor personnel. Average training hours are given in graph 14.

Graph 14.Average number of training hours per one training course passed by nominated KPO employees in 2023, by type, by gender

Training arranged for KPO employees in 2023 by categories is shown in Table 23.

Tab. 23.Training of employees by categories, 2021–2022

KPO SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMMES AND PARTNERSHIP WITH UNIVERSITIES

KPO works to enhance its employees’ qualification and attract young professionals through cooperation with universities.

Scholarship programmes

KPO Scholarship Programme is one of the constituent incentives for professional development and further education of employees and their children.

In 2023, within this programme KPO allocated 41 KZT mln (equivalent to US$ 85,417) to sponsor scholarships for 11 KPO employees and 30 children of employees.

Graph 15.Dynamics of engagement in the KPO Scholarship Programme, 2013–2023

KPO partnership with Kazakhstani universities

KPO cooperates with 33 educational institutions in Kazakhstan, contributing to the training of professional personnel for the oil and gas industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Internship in the international company helps students in preparing for real work, obtaining introduction to business approaches at the international level. Through connection of theoretical training and practical consolidation at the enterprise, students achieve the necessary level of competence and prepare for professional activities. In addition, student placement allows students to make well-informed choices about future career.

KPO’s work with universities is carried out through the Student Placement Programme on the basis of bilateral agreements.

In 2023, 212 students from 23 educational institutions had practical and pre-graduate internship for 17 specialities in various departments of the Company. From 2013 to 2023, the Company has employed 213 people out of those, who had passed the student placement.

Graph 16.Number of students completed internship at KPO, 2016–2023

Scholarship via KAZENERGY Association According to the FPSA, KPO annually allocates USD 500 thousand for scholarship for young people under the Memorandum of Cooperation signed on September 29, 2015 between the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan, PSA LLP, KPO B.V., NCOC N.V. and the KAZENERGY Association. Each academic year as per the Protocol of the Committee for selection of candidates for the payment of education from the allocated funds, KPO concludes agreements with the educational institutions and arrange payments for education of students who had passed competitive selection. In 2023, KPO signed agreements for scholarship of 138 students from 16 universities of Kazakhstan. Graduates Development Programme The major target of the University Graduates Development Programme is to renew a pool of high potential personnel among local the graduates of the Kazakhstani universities to ensure safe operations of the Karachaganak Field facilities. Since 2008, as part of dual education, KPO has been implementing the Professional Development Programme for Production Operators, Mechanical Technicians, Electrical Technicians and Instrument Technicians based on the international standard of the Offshore Petroleum Industry Training Organization (ОPIТО).

AS PART OF THE GRADUATES DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME 537 PRODUCTION OPERATOS AND MECHANICAL TECHNICIANS HAVE BEEN TRAINED AND WORK TODAY AT THE COMPANY'S PRODUCTION FACILITIES.

Once selected, candidates are trained according to international standards gaining both theoretical and practical knowledge. Upon a successful completion of the programme, interns are hired by the Company and start their careers at the production units.

The value of this training programme lies in the methodology provided in a module format. This approach allows developing a set of competencies, which focus on the ability to address production issues in workplace.

The University Graduates Development Programme has been successfully implemented at KPO for 16 years at the time of issuing this Report. Over 537 Production Operators and Mechanical Technicians have been trained under this programme and currently productively work at the Company’s production facilities.

21 trainees from Intake 2021 were hired into the Field department in January-February 2023.

In August 2023, 45 students of the 2022 Intake have completed the theoretical part of their training in the specialties of Electrical and Instrument Technician and Production Operator and were assigned to on-the-job training at the production facilities.

On 3^rd October 2023, KPO has completed the selection process of the next intake of students for participation in this programme in the specialties of Production Operator and Mechanical Technician. Based on the selection results, 48 recent graduates of higher and secondary specialized educational institutions of the Republic of Kazakhstan, had started the theoretical part of training for 10 months. After that, the trainees will be assigned to on-job training at the production facilities.

In December 2023, 10 students have successfully completed the 9-month Petroleum Engineering Development Programme, that was conducted jointly with ENI Corporate University for training of qualified specialists in geology, reservoir engineering and well operations. Upon completion of the programme, graduates received international certificates and were assigned for on-the-job training in the production departments of KPO.