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A LUKOIL LUBRICANTS COMPANY PUBLICATION JULY 2017

SYNTHETIC MOTOR OIL

LUKOIL AVANTGARDE PROFESSIONAL

* Compared to ACEA E4 requirements ** Compared to ACEA E7 requirements *** Compared to ACEA E7 requirements

Approvals/Meets requirements of:

• MB-Approval 228.5• MAN M3277• Volvo VDS-3• Scania LDF-3• Caterpillar ECF-2• Cummins CES 20077/72• Renault RLD-2, RXD• Ford WSS-M2C212-A1• Deutz DQC IV-10, III-10• MTU Category 3• DAF Extended Drain• MACK EO-N, EO-M PLUS

Extended oil change interval

API: CI-4, СFACEA: E4/E7SAE: 5W-30, 10W-40

LUKOIL LUBRICANTS | July 2017 1

CONTENTSAWARD

2 Automotive industry’s best supplier

COOPERATION

4 LUKOIL strikes new partnerships with Peugeot and Citroёn

5 Severstal chooses LUKOIL again

6 Our lubes for Moscow’s bus fleet

6 LUKOIL signs deal with AVTOTOR

CORPORATE AFFAIRS

7 First success at metalworking fluids rеsearch lab

ANNIVERSARY

8 LUKOIL Lubricants East Europe celebrates 10th anniversary!

COOPERATION

10 Service fill oils for Toyota’s special-purpose machinery

11 LUKOIL begins cooperation with Liebherr in Russia

11 New approvals, first fill deal with Palfinger

PRODUCT

12 Ultra quality for agricultural sector

PRO PROFILE

14 Marine in all he does!

COOPERATION

16 Eastern dealers tour Perm facility

ACHIEVEMENT

17 June Manoharan is the Woman Maritime Personality of the Year!

FORUM

18 Volgograd hosts mining industry business forum

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

20 We build presence, enter new European markets

PRO PROFILE

22 Meet Matthias Margl

EXHIBITION

24 Getting closer to Mexico

CORPORATE AFFAIRS

25 “Perspective 2017“ is a talent draw

LUKOILLUBRICANTS,July2017LUKOILLUBRICANTSisaLUKOILLubricantsCompanypublicationPublisher:RPIAddress:LUKOILLubricantsCompany,6MalayaYakimanka,Moscow119180

Phone:+74959803912E-mail:[email protected]:999ThemagazineisregisteredbytheFederalServiceforMediaLawComplianceandCulturalHeritage.RegistrationcertificateПИ№ФС77-28009

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AWARD2

LUKOIL won the 2016 Best Supplier award in the contest held by the Russian Automotive Forum (RAF), which high-lighted the Company’s achievements as supplier of lubricants to international

car manufacturers. The award ceremony took place in Moscow on March 15 during the RAF 2017 conference organized by Adam Smith Conferences.

“Over the last year, this company made some landmark achievements in coopera-tion with international automobile concerns. Namely, last year LUKOIL started to deliv-er lubricants to Ford and Volkswagen’s plants in Russia, and continued to cooperate with Renault-Nissan, GM, MAN, GAZ, KAMAZ, and other car producers. The company was al-so Russia’s first to certify two plants (in Perm

and Volgograd) as per ISO/TS 16949:2009 stan-dard. Among domestic companies the Russian lubricants market leader also had the biggest number of car producers’ product approvals. Some of those unique approvals were Russia’s first, and some others were the first in the world. We couldn’t overlook these achieve-ments, and LUKOIL is the deserving winner of the ‘Best Russian Supplier’ award,” RAF 2017 organizers said in a statement.

As he accepted the award, Alexei Moskalenko, LUKOIL Lubricants Company deputy general director for logistics, thanked clients and partners for the high valuation of the Company’s performance. “It is a spe-cial honor for us to win in the ‘Best Supplier’ nomination, since LUKOIL is the youngest company among the world’s largest lubri-

AWARD

AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY’S BEST SUPPLIER


cant manufacturers. We constant-ly keep learning from you, our col-leagues from the car industry, and we are thankful for that. Car com-panies’ regular audits of our plants have helped us adapt quickly to in-ternational standards in quality management, and raise efficiency of manufacturing and logistics. A de-cade ago, the Company was deliver-ing lubricants exclusively to Russian car producers. Today, we supply first

fill products to over 20 foreign and Russian automakers. Meanwhile, we are beginning to switch from first and service fill agreements in indi-vidual countries to similar deals on a global scale,” said Moskalenko.

Russia’s main event devoted to domestic car industry featured all major players. We need to note that LUKOIL was named Russia’s best sup-plier not only among lubricant com-panies, but also among car compo-nents and consumables producers!

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CAR COMPANIES’ REGULAR AUDITS OF OUR PLANTS HAVE HELPED US ADAPT

QUICKLY TO INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS IN QUALITY

MANAGEMENT, AND RAISE EFFICIENCY OF MANUFACTURING

AND LOGISTICS

COOPERATION4

LUKOIL has signed a contract with Peugeot Citroën Rus for delivery of service fill lubricants in Russia.

Peugeot, Citroën and DS official deal-erships will use LUKOIL GENESIS SPECIAL and GENESIS ADVANCED engine oils.

“LUKOIL strives to develop busi-ness ties with the world’s key car manufacturers. Such companies as PSA Group determine present-day and future requirements regard-ing lubricants. Today, we attentively study specifications of oils required for first fill at PSA’s car factories, and we intend to boost cooperation both in Russia and in foreign markets,” said LUKOIL Lubricants Company general director Maxim Donde.

“In its effort to build the scope of aftersales services for different types of our car brands in Russia, PSA Group is interested in cooperation with a local company, which is able to supply to us universal engine oils of high quality, officially approved by the majority of car manufactur-ers with a presence in the local mar-ket. We are glad to begin our cooper-ation with such a reliable partner as LUKOIL,” said Yevgeny Boldyrev, PSA Groups director for aftersales ser-vice and spare parts in the Eurasian region.

PSA Group manufactures cars un-der Peugeot, Citroën and DS brands, and also offers different mobili-ty services under the Free2Move

brand. Following this year’s acqui-sition of Opel and Vauxhall brands from General Motors, the French car manufacturer has become Europe’s

second-largest car pro-ducer, capturing a 17-per-cent share of the mar-ket. PSA is a European leader in reducing CO2 emissions with an aver-age of 102.4 g/km in 2016 and is one of the pio-neers in development of driverless and connect-ed cars (2.3 million such cars already being used). The Group’s business interests also include the finance sector (PSA Finance bank) and car components manufactur-ing (Faurecia).

LUKOIL STRIKES NEW PARTNERSHIPS WITH PEUGEOT AND CITROЁN

COOPERATION


LUKOIL HAS WON A MAJOR BID TO SUPPLY MODERN ENGINE, HYDRAULIC, AND GEAR OILS TO A NUMBER OF KEY COMPANIES IN SEVERSTAL GROUP’S STEELMAKING AND MINING DIVISIONS

According to the contract, by the end of this year LUKOIL will sup-ply about 2,700 tons of lubricants

to Severstal, Izhora Pipe Mill, Severstal Balakovo Long Product Mill, Karelsky Okatysh, Vorkutaugol and Olkon. Severstal includes Severstal Russian Steel and Severstal Resource divisions. Severstal Russian Steel is one of Russia’s largest steelmakers, specializing in pro-duction of rolled steel with a high added value. The division includes plants man-ufacturing large diameter pipes, metal products for industry and general-pur-pose use, as well as service centers and stamping plants producing car parts.

Severstal Resource includes all of Severstal’s mining assets, covering Severstal Russian Steel’s entire demand for iron ore and hard coking coal. It also sells raw materials to external customers.

We are dynamically replacing both imported lubricants and GOST specification products at our partners’ steelmaking plants, helping them achieve higher ef-ficiency in operation of industri-al equipment. Besides Severstal, the largest buyers of LUKOIL lu-bricants are Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK), Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works, Chusovskoy Iron and Steel Works, TMK, Metalloinvest. Today’s level of LUKOIL’s R&D en-ables us to set new industry stan-dards through development of new generation lubricants for steelmakers. For example, such

innovations are LUKOIL GEYSER HFDU fireproof biodegradable hydrau-lic oils and LUKOIL INTEGO product line for rolling mills, with unique water separation properties.

RASIM AMIRALIYEV deputy general director, sales

SEVERSTAL CHOOSES LUKOIL AGAIN

COOPERATION

5

COOPERATION6

LUKOIL has won Mosgortrans’ new tender to supply lubricants in 2017 for the bus fleet of Europe’s

largest public transport operator. The bid was preceded by a series

of tests of LUKOIL AVANTGARDE PROFESSIONAL LS 10W-40 motor oil in MAN diesel engines compli-ant with the Euro-5 environmental standard. The product performed excellently under difficult urban driving (start-stop) conditions and during lengthy idle engine runs. The test results revealed minimal traces of wear in the oil.

“Mosgortrans is one of our stra-tegic clients, and we highly appreci-ate the partnership with the compa-ny based in the Russian capital. Since 2012 LUKOIL has been successful in substituting imported lubricants

in Mosgortrans’ bus fleet, offering oils that meet the latest require-ments of foreign engine manufactur-ers,” said Rasim Amiraliyev, LUKOIL Lubricants Company deputy general director, sales.

Mosgortrans is Europe’s larg-est operator of urban ground pas-senger transportation. The compa-ny operates more than 740 routes and carries over 5.5 million passen-gers daily. Mosgortrans’ vehicle fleet numbers around 8,500 vehicles, in-cluding nearly 6,400 buses with MAN, Scania, Mercedes, Cummins and Deutz engines.

OUR LUBES FOR MOSCOW’S BUS FLEET

COOPERATION

LUKOIL SIGNS DEAL WITH AVTOTOR

LUKOIL has signed a contract with AVTOTOR Holding to deliver first fill lubricants for the Kaliningrad-

based car manufacturer’s new line of small-sized diesel engines. LUKOIL synthetic engine oils will be used in modern diesel engines with a 1.5 kW to 56 kW power range, serving differ-ent branches of industry.

“In 2016, we launched produc-tion of AVTOTOR low-power en-gines, which are used in construc-tion, warehouse and agricultural machinery, as well as small-size ves-sels. AVTOTOR is interested in ex-panding the network of suppliers of

high quality com-ponents and ma-terials for the new project. The choice of LUKOIL as our supplier is the re-sult of successful tests of Russian oil in new engines,” said AVTOTOR Holding general di-rector Alexander Sorokin.

“We count on further expansion of cooperation with AVTOTOR, the larg-est multi-brand car manufacturer in Russia. Earlier, LUKOIL had already delivered first fill oils for a num-

ber of foreign cars manufactured in Kaliningrad. In the nearest future, we shall offer AVTOTOR new interesting options for mutually beneficial coop-eration,“ head of LUKOIL Lubricants Company OEM Cooperation Dept. Maxim Myskin said.


FIRST SUCCESS AT METALWORKING FLUIDS RЕSEARCH LAB

Having set the goal to become Russia’s leading player in the metalworking fluids market,

the Company decided to develop its own unique formulations instead of relying on the additive produc-ers’ ready-made solutions. As part of its effort to implement this strategy, LUKOIL unveiled an R&D laborato-ry in Perm, which is going to serve as the base for making new metalwork-ing fluids and other specialty prod-ucts used in different branches of in-dustry.

The Perm research lab began operating last spring. Since then, five new products have been deve-loped here: four oil-based met-alworking fluids — LUKOIL INSO S32, INSO D15, INSO А8 and INSO М22, and the unique LUKOIL FREO MS3060A water soluble metalwork-ing fluid for treatment of alloys in aviation and airspace industry. Earlier, the Company had produced two water soluble metalworking fluids, LUKOIL FREO MP 15L and

LUKOIL FREO MP 65L, for mechani-cal metalworking.

“LUKOIL is going to offer distinc-tive solutions to the market, on a par with the most advanced Western prod-ucts, and better adapted to Russian conditions. The Company creates ‘niche products’ that can accommodate specif-ic requests of any customer. Our own R&D solutions and the state-of-the-art laboratory will enable us to expand our portfolio of metalworking fluids to 20 items as early as the end of this year,” says specialty products project leader Artyom Chaltsev.

LUKOIL plans to offer an integrat-ed solution for metalworking indus-try companies by creating a prod-uct portfolio that would encompass the full process cycle of manufactur-ing, treatment and parts storage. Such an approach, LUKOIL experts be-lieve, would also benefit the clients since it would help optimize logistics and solve the issue of compatibility of products used in different production operations.

LUKOIL owns laboratories at all of its Russian oil refineries, however, the majority of those specialize in quality control. Our new laborato-ry in Perm is located on the premis-es of the experimental and rese-arch shop of LUKOIL’s plant, and focus-es on development of specialty prod-ucts such as metalworking fluids, corrosion-resistant compositions, commercial cleaners, oils for pres-sure metal treatment and other pro-cess liquids. The Perm lab excellently complements the Company’s re-search lab in Tyumen where many of our lubricants are made and tested. The Perm facility has all necessary equipment for making formulations, reformulating and testing products.

ALEXANDER PETUKHOV head of product test support department, r&d division

CORPORATE AFFAIRS

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ANNIVERSARY8

IN THE SPRING, OUR SUBSIDIARY, LUKOIL LUBRICANTS EAST EUROPE, CELEBRATED IN PLOESTI ITS 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF OPERATIONS IN THE LUBRICANT MARKETS OF SOUTH AND EAST EUROPE

At the end of 2006, LLK Lubricants Romania was registered in Romania, and later renamed into LUKOIL Lubricants East

Europe (LLEE). The company be-gan to operate in May 2007. As part of LUKOIL’s new business devel-opment strategy, LLEE incorporat-ed lube-blending facilities located at PETROTEL–LUKOIL oil refinery in Ploesti.

“In 2007, blending operations at the plant were carried out by using equipment that dated back to 1958,

and required an upgrade. In 2011, we installed a new blending module. The new system was fully automated, and it enabled us to produce modern high specification oils. By 2014, we had re-newed our base oil tank farm, and in-stalled the latest filter systems. All

these activities helped us make the manufacturing process very flexible: we were able to expand our prod-uct range, efficiently produce small batches on specific orders, and locally produced lubricants became compli-

ANNIVERSARY

LUKOIL LUBRICANTS EAST EUROPE CELEBRATES 10TH ANNIVERSARY!

IN 2017, THE MAIN BULK OF

INVESTMENTS WILL BE ALLOCATED

TO BOOST BRAND AWARENESS

IN THE REGION, AND MARKETING

EVENTS TO PROMOTE LUKOIL

LUBRICANTS


ant with modern-day requirements,” noted LLEE head Felix Dragu as he spoke about the key changes that have since taken place at the Ploesti lubricants plant.

Today, the product range of LUKOIL lubricants in Romania fea-tures more than 300 items. The plant’s manufacturing capaci-ty stands at 40,000 tons per year. A modern research laboratory, and highly qualified staff facilitate pro-duction of virtually any type of oil, meeting requests of the most de-manding clients.

Thanks to production facilities’ upgrades, LLEE now owns European-level blending capacity. It was here, in Romania, that we first launched man-ufacturing of such advanced prod-

uct lines as LUKOIL GENESIS and AVANTGARDE PROFESSIONAL. These were not simply the premium prod-ucts, they represented a new philos-ophy that we offered to customers. In Ploesti, the Company produced for the first time its flagship oils.

At a gala dinner, organized for LLEE employees, LUKOIL Lubricants Company general director Maxim Donde thanked the local team of professionals for these and oth-er achievements, and wished they

would open a new interesting chap-ter in the Company’s history.

“LUKOIL is making intensive ef-forts to develop global partnership with European car manufacturers, and in this regard we aim to use pro-duction capacity at our European plants to the maximum. The plant in Ploesti is located in the very heart of Eastern Europe, it has a very import-ant role in building LUKOIL’s lubri-cants business globally, and that role will only keep growing!”

LUKOIL LUBRICANTS COMPANY

GENERAL DIRECTOR MAXIM DONDE,

RIGHT, AND LUKOIL LUBRICANTS

EAST EUROPE HEAD FELIX DRAGU

GATHERED ROMANIAN BUSINESS

MEDIA REPORTERS AT A PRESS

CONFERENCE TO SPEAK

ABOUT KEY ACHIEVEMENTS

AND PROSPECTS FOR THE

SUBSIDIARY COMPANY’S

FURTHER DEVELOPMENT

LLEE’S BEST EMPLOYEES RECEIVED

CORPORATE AWARDS AS PART

OF THE COMPANY’S 10TH

ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS

COOPERATION

LUKOIL has signed a contract to deliver service fill lubricants in Russia for Toyota Material

Handling (TMH), the world’s largest manufacturer of sophisticated lifting machinery. Toyota Material Handling RUS’ dealers in all regions of Russia will be using LUKOIL oils, greases and process fluids for servicing load-ers, stackers and other special Toyota and BT warehouse machinery and tools.

The main product range of con-tracted lubricants includes LUKOIL

AVANTGARDE ULTRA engine oil, LUKOIL GEYSER hydraulic oil, LUKOIL TM4, TM5 and ATF gear oil, as well as the FLEX innovative greases.

“The improvement of LUKOIL’s portfolio of premium lubricants and greases that meet specific require-ments of the world’s leading original equipment manufacturers, including Japanese OEMs, helped us offer opti-mal solutions to #1 company in ma-terial handling. In Russia, Toyota is rightfully associated with high tech-

nology and durability of its machin-ery. It is an honor for us to sign a supply deal with a second member — the other being Jungheinrich — of the world’s top three machinery mak-ers. The choice of LUKOIL as suppli-er justifies our commitment to devel-opment of highly efficient products,” said OEM Cooperation Service chief Rinat Kalmantayev.

TMH is the global leader in manufacturing loading/offloading and ware-house machinery. Over the last 15 years, the Japanese company has firm-ly held the lead as the industry’s largest player. The Group manufac-tures its products at nine plants in Japan, Brazil, Italy, China, U.S.A., France and Sweden. The company produces machinery under Toyota, BT, Raymond, Cesab, Aichi and Tailift brands. TMH is part of Toyota Industries Corporation, which operates in automotive industry, industrial transport, electronics, logistics systems and textile equipment manufacturing.

SERVICE FILL OILS FOR TOYOTA’S SPECIAL-PURPOSE MACHINERY

COOPERATION

10


COOPERATION

NEW APPROVALS, FIRST FILL DEAL WITH PALFINGER

In 2015, Palfinger approved hydrau-lic oils under LUKOIL GEYSER and TEBOIL HYDRAULIC brands. The

approvals enabled LUKOIL to en-ter a group of potential suppliers to Palfinger plants and CRANE Center KAMAZ, a joint venture between Palfinger and KAMAZ. The lead-ing lifting equipment manufactur-er’s experts highly valued our prod-ucts, and selected LUKOIL GEYSER UNIVERSAL hydraulic oil for first fill of Palfinger and Velmash-S lifting cranes and manipulators produced at the plant in Velikie Luki.

Production of GEYSER UNIVERSAL (ISO VG 22) was launched in 2015. The all-season hydraulic oil with unique viscosity and temperature proper-ties, produced on Group III+ base oils,

is LUKOIL’s know-how. Experts have noted that this is the optimal prod-uct for the central part of Russia and countries with a moderate climate. The oil is recommended for all-season use in hydraulic drive and control sys-tems of construction, road, forestry,

lifting and other machinery operating at oil temperatures that range from -35 С to +80 С. GEYSER UNIVERSAL can replace AU and MGE-46V oils, tra-ditionally used in the summer, as well as VMGZ oil in winter months.

Moreover, improved antioxidant, antiwear, viscous, corrosion-resistant, low-temperature and antifoam properties enable the product to prevent oil oxidation, wear and scuffing up to 40 percent better than MGE-46V, VMGZ and AU oils.

LUKOIL has signed a contract to deliver service fill oil for Liebherr construction machinery serviced by the industrial giant’s region-al subsidiaries. The Company will offer Liebherr’s clients a wide

range of modern oils and process fluids under the LUKOIL brand.Liebherr is Germany’s machine-building giant, which includes

130 companies all over the world. It has built the biggest pres-ence in construction machinery and refrigerating equipment sec-tors. In 2011, Liebherr opened a manufacturing plant in Dzerzhinsk, Nizhegorod region. It was the company’s first plant in Russia. The factory specializes in manufacturing steel frames for earth movers and tower cranes, as well as key components for flight control sys-tems in aviation industry. In Russia, Liebherr also produces aviation accessories and owns a repair and storage facility in the Odintsovo district, Moscow region.

LUKOIL BEGINS COOPERATION WITH LIEBHERR IN RUSSIA

PRODUCT12

RUSSIA’S AGRICULTURAL SECTOR IS ONE OF THE MOST PROMISING SEGMENTS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF LUKOIL’S LUBRICANTS BUSINESS. PAVEL KOLOMIETS, TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE DEPT. SPECIALIST AND THE OVERSEER OF AGRICULTURAL BUSINESS LINE SPEAKS ABOUT ADVANCED SOLUTIONS LUKOIL IS OFFERING TO FARMERS.

In recent years, LUKOIL has been growing steadily its presence in the lubricants market for agricul-tural industry. Today, the com-pany’s important advantage is its

ability to offer clients not just high quality lubricants that meet interna-tional standards, but an integrated services program, which helps opti-mize machinery performance.

A vivid example is the integrat-ed services program that was carried out last year at one of Russia’s larg-est agricultural companies, Miratorg. LUKOIL’s AVANTGARDE ULTRA

15W-40 motor oil was used on John Deere tractors, resulting in an increase of the oil drain inter-val up to 350 engine hours, and sur-passing the threshold set by the client by 40 percent.

The cost of an engine hour dropped by approximately 60 percent whereas the price of oil was compa-rable with the price tag of LUKOIL’s chief competitor! Another exam-ple of optimized machinery perfor-mance was the implementation of the same program at Mordovsky be-kon company. It took place during

last year’s harvest, and the client was offered LUKOIL AVANTGARDE ULTRA M3 15W-40 engine oil for com-bines. The seasonal timeframe for harvest is rather narrow, and success depends on a number of factors, in-

ACCORDING TO PAVEL

KOLOMIETS, LUKOIL PAYS

A GREAT DEAL OF ATTENTION

TO AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY

PRODUCERS’ DEMANDS

ULTRA QUALITY FOR AGRICULTURAL SECTOR

PRODUCT


cluding weather. That is why excess double or triple mileage runs occur quite often. By using AVANTGARDE ULTRA M3 15W-40, the client was able to increase the oil drain interval to 700–750 engine hours and stop wor-rying about potential financial losses caused by machinery breakdowns.

Jointly with PROMEXPORT, one of our leading dealers, we conduct-ed tests of AVANTGARDE ULTRA M3 engine oil on the Akros 590 combine made by Rostselmash. Over 508 en-gine hours of monitored operations, the product maintained a high level of viscosity, and its performance prop-erties were practically comparable to those of new oil. Had it been needed, AVANTGARDE ULTRA M3 would have run for declared 750 engine hours, but it wasn’t necessary since the har-vesting campaign ended on the 508th hour of monitoring.

One of the product’s advantag-es is that it “forgives the mistakes” caused by episodic use of low quality fuel, and reliably protects the engine. Agricultural workers also appreci-ate the possibility to mix the product with another oil. The AVANTGARDE ULTRA product line meets these re-quirements, and up to 12 percent of the product can be mixed on condi-tion the other oil has the same level of performance properties according to API, ACEA, and the same viscosi-ty grade. In the case of AVANTGARDE ULTRA, this has been confirmed by successful laboratory and field tests.

One of the acute problems in the industry is the use of low quality oil, which can cost customers much more during the machinery’s opera-tion. It is pleasant to know that mod-ern machinery manufacturers such as Belarus-based MTZ and Gomselmash, which account for 74.6 percent of Russia’s tractor imports, recommend in their manuals high quality lubri-cants with the latest specifications as the primary choice of oil, i. e. LUKOIL AVANTGARDE product line, whose properties are considerably better than those of GOST specification oils.

A gradual phase-out of lubricants with low quality specifications is in-

evitable. It is telling that a single com-bine harvester in Russia covers an ar-ea of 354 hectares, while in the United States it works over only 63 hectares! GOST specification oils aren’t ready for such workloads, their „evolution-ary development“ in terms of today’s market demands has virtually been stopped.

In an effort to “feel the pulse” of our target audience, we launched a series of special conferences named “LUKOIL Lubricants for Modern Agricultural Machinery,” which gath-er managers and engineers of agricul-tural companies. The first forum was held in Perm in 2014, the second one in Volgograd in mid-February 2017. Consequently, several agricultural holdings began the programs of mon-

itored use of our oils. We plan to hold the conference each year as it pro-vides an excellent platform for expe-rience sharing.

LUKOIL pays a great deal of atten-tion to agricultural machinery pro-ducers’ demands, such as the max-imum use of horsepower capacity, reduction of fleet ownership costs, improvement of performance in-dicators of agricultural work effi-ciency. This year, the Yaroslavl en-gine plant launched production of YAMZ 530 medium class engines for tractors, grain and for-age harvesters. Technical specifications were draft-ed by Rostselmash and St. Petersburg tractor plants, both of which tar-get export deliveries to European countries. According to specifica-tions, it was also neces-sary to observe Stage IIIа environmental require-ments. We studied this is-

sue with our colleagues from the OEM Cooperation Dept. and concluded that the properties of AVANTGARDE ULTRA and ULTRA М3 oils match re-

quired parameters. The future be-longs to such products, and we shall continue to improve the quality of LUKOIL lubricants: customers value their reliability and efficiency, where-as our well-balanced pricing policy spurs growth of their popularity.

WE SHALL CONTINUE TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF LUKOIL LUBRICANTS:

CUSTOMERS VALUE THEIR RELIABILITY AND EFFICIENCY

LUKOIL AVANTGARDE ULTRA М3

AND LUKOIL VERSO UTTO ARE

THE ADVANCED PRODUCTS

IN THE COMPANY’S PRODUCT LINE

FOR THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR

PRO PROFILE14

I was born in the north-ern German city of Marne, located 12 kilo-meters to the west of Kiel Canal. My father

used to sail in the sea, and many locals worked in the marine industry. So when I finished high school, I decided to enroll in a two-year program for ship me-chanics.

After completing my apprenticeship at Germany’s mar-itime shipping giant Hapag-Lloyd I continued as an offi-cer’s assistant on a ship. At the time, Hapag-Lloyd was in-troducing multi-purpose crews, and I got to work both in the engine room and on the bridge. Later on, as I was building my career in the marine business, that experience would also prove very valuable in terms of helping me un-derstand the clients’ needs and expectations.

I chose to pursue a degree in Marine Operating Technology at the Flensburg University of Applied Sciences. I finished my studies with honors and went back to sea. I wasn’t interested so much in seeing other coun-tries, I was more attracted by the technical aspect of seago-ing. Aboard a ship it feels like being in a little city — it has its own freshwater generation, a sewerage plant, power generation, main propulsion, air conditioning, and so on.

At the end of 1998, I took a job as technical coordina-tor with BP Marine in Hamburg. Later, I joined the glob-al Technical Marketing Team, provided strategic techni-cal support in terms of products, services and trainings and was involved in product field-testing activities and OEM contacts. However, the BP/Castrol merger triggered anoth-er reorganization and it became obvious that there was no possibility for me to grow further in BP’s marine business in the foreseeable future.

That is why I decided to switch to sales and became key account manager for Castrol Marine in Northern Germany, Switzerland and Cyprus. Despite having a very good track record of performance and becoming part of Castrol

Marine’s strategy team, in 2009 I decided it was time to move on.

In July 2009, I became technical and marketing director of LUKOIL Marine Lubricants, and was one of its founding members with Jan Thiedeitz, COO in Hamburg, and Viktor Zhuravsky, CEO based in St. Petersburg. We started the marine business unit from scratch and we built it step by step guided by a vision “... we stand for reliable service and high quality products. We aim to become the first choice of our customers” and created the slogan MARINE IN ALL WE DO! Actually, in the beginning it felt more like “we have to do all in marine” since we were only a small group and had to deal with the entire order to cash process ourselves.

The confidence and the blind trust among the leader-ship team and the support from LUKOIL enabled that en-trepreneurial climate. Our task was already challenging so I didn’t really feel the pressure of performance and time, and that fueled creativity.

Beginnings were tough as the industry fought the af-termath of the global economic crisis. However, we also saw this as an opportunity — had everything been fine, it would have been a lot more difficult to convince a German shipowner to try out a Russian oil. Moreover, our old busi-ness connections played a part — many industry executives already knew us and trusted us, and that made the market-ing of LUKOIL marine lubes easier. Step by step, we were expanding our customer base, and today LUKOIL owns more than 12 percent of the global market.

One of the key contributors in making that achieve-ment was the development of our NAVIGO 100 MCL ma-rine oil. In 2010, nearly all container ships were using slow

MARINE IN ALL HE DOES!

PRO PROFILE STEFAN CLAUSSEN, LUKOIL MARINE LUBRICANTS TECHNICAL AND MARKETING DIRECTOR, SPEAKS ABOUT HIS SAILS, HIS CAREER AND LML’S METEORIC RISE IN THE GLOBAL MARINE LUBES BUSINESS

OUR FUTURE SUCCESS RESTS ON AN EXCELLENT GLOBAL TEAM THAT IS VERY EXPERIENCED,

SELF-MOTIVATED AND UNDERSTANDS CUSTOMERS’ NEEDS


steaming, which meant the vessels sailed at speeds significantly lower than their normal speed in order to save money on fuel. Due to lower op-erating temperatures the level of cor-rosive wear increased significantly on some engines running on 70 BN cyl-inder oil. We anticipated that future engine designs, which would aim to optimize fuel economy and to low-er emissions, would have higher cor-rosion levels. While our competitors started doing trials on 60 BN prod-ucts, we went in the opposite direc-tion. It was quite obvious to me that the only way to solve this, rather than putting more oil, was to increase the concentration. With that in mind, we started field trials for NAVIGO 100 MCL — a 100 BN cylinder oil, and achieved success. The breakthrough occurred in the summer of 2013 when MAN, which earlier hadn’t been very enthusiastic about our proposal, de-cided to change its cylinder oil recom-mendation from 70 BN to 100 BN for all new engines. Almost overnight, we became the technology leader and the only company offering 100 BN cyl-inder oil globally. It reached a point where marketing worked by word of mouth: a LUKOIL customer would talk to a non-LUKOIL customer, and he would praise the performance of NAVIGO 100 MCL, virtually acting as our brand ambassador! Later, we built on that success and developed iCOl-ube, the intelligent cylinder oil lubri-

cation system, which became an instant hit with our clients.

Today, the marine industry is fac-ing a big challenge. In 2020, the new global cap on sulfur content in heavy fuel will be reduced to 0.50% m/m from the current 3.50% m/m. We are confident that the launch of our new NAVIGO MCL Extra will offer clients the best possible lubricant solutions for the years leading up to 2020 and beyond. It is an all-new 40 BN marine cylinder oil for distillate, ultra-low sulfur fuel oil (<0.1%S) and low sul-fur heavy fuel oil applications. Also, we plan to launch NAVIGO 140 MCL, a new 140 BN cylinder oil, which en-ables even more flexibility and can be used with iCOlube to further opti-mize lubrication of the latest and fu-

ture, most demanding engines and vessels equipped with exhaust gas treatment systems.

Our future success rests on an excellent global team that is very experienced, self-motivated and understands customers’ needs. We have built lasting personal relation-ships with our clients, and are able to offer high quality products and service. We are flexible, committed, ready to listen and adapt to clients’ needs rather than do everything by the book. LUKOIL has broken into the fold of top five marine lubricant companies in the world, and I am op-timistic that we could soon overtake our closest competitor and become the fourth-largest lubes company on the globe.

QUEEN MARY 2, THE WORLD’S LARGEST OCEAN LINER,

IS ONE OF THE LANDMARK SHIPS THAT RUN ON LUKOIL MARINE OIL

LLK-NAFTAN’S ADDITIVES FOR MARINE LUBRICANTS PROVIDE AN ADDITIONAL

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE FOR LUKOIL

COOPERATION16

LUKOIL is dynamically develop-ing its lubricants business in the Persian Gulf countries and Asia. In

May, the heads of the largest distrib-utors and dealers in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, U.A.E., Qatar, Bangladesh and Singapore paid a visit to LUKOIL’s plant in Perm, where they were able to witness the high standards of qual-ity control applied in the process of LUKOIL lubricants’ manufacturing.

Put into operation in 2008, the facility in Perm is one of LUKOIL’s key manufacturing plants. It pro-duces up to 40,000 tons of lubri-cants per month, and is Europe’s

largest producer of packaged lubri-cants. The in-mould labeling tech-nology was first applied here, even-tually providing reliable protection from fake cans. During the tour, the delegation visited the main process facilities. At the compounding line, the visitors saw the process of au-tomated blending of lubricant com-ponents and additives. In the labo-ratory, LUKOIL staff demonstrated quality control of a finished prod-uct that included identifying the grade of purity, viscosity grade, pour point, and other parameters. At the end of the demonstration, the visitors received conformity certificates, which accompany each batch of Perm-produced lubricants.

During the visit, the delega-tion also went on a plant tour, visit-ed the museum and took part in the conference that featured LUKOIL specialists speaking about the com-pany’s history, structure and plans for global development.

“It was an excellent visit. We of-ten tell our distributor partners that LUKOIL is the most dynam-ic brand in terms of deveploment. Today, they were able to see in per-son how this brand is being created.

They assessed the scope of LUKOIL’s operations and high results that the Company has achieved over the pe-riod of 25 years. Our region is char-acterized by top rate cars and the trust we have in LUKOIL lubri-cants testifies to the fact that the Perm plant manufactures high-lev-el products in global terms,” said LUKOIL Marine Lubricants DMCC sales director William Gilbert.

GROWTH OF DEMAND IS A MATTER OF TIME

“We work in many countries of the Middle East and we sold around 1 million liters of LUKOIL lubri-cants in our first year of cooper-ation with the Russian manufac-turer,” said delegation member Atul Kumar, general director of Nissan’s dealer in Oman. “Of course, many oil brands have been present in the Middle Eastern market for decades, but I think that a high demand for LUKOIL lu-bricants is only a matter of time. In Perm, we want to learn as much as we can about LUKOIL, so we can then introduce the core values of this brand to our buyers.”

COOPERATION

EASTERN DEALERS TOUR PERM FACILITY

THE PERM PLANT IS EUROPE’S LARGEST PRODUCER

OF PACKAGED LUBRICANTS


June Manoharan, LUKOIL Marine Lubricants regional direc-tor in Asia, Africa and the Middle East, has been named the “Woman Maritime Personality of the Year.” The awards cere-

mony was held on May 16 at ShipTek 2017, the international con-ference on marine, offshore and oil and gas industry.

Manoharan has been working for LUKOIL Marine Lubricants, the company involved in production and sales of marine lubri-cants, since 2010. Over a seven-year period, she has made a sig-nificant contribution to development of LUKOIL’s lubricants business. Among her numerous achievements, she oversaw the founding of LUKOIL’s Dubai subsidiary, which eventually be-came LUKOIL Marine Lubricants’ head office.

JUNE MANOHARAN IS THE WOMAN MARITIME PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR!

GENESIS MOTOR OIL SALES LAUNCHED IN U.A.E.

LUKOIL has started sales of its LUKOIL GENESIS premium synthetic motor oil in the United Arab Emirates. The oil is marketed by the regional partner, Al Habtoor Motors LLC distributor company. “We see large potential for growth in the Middle Eastern market. In order to succeed here in the premium segment, we need to have a product portfolio that meets interna-tional car manufacturers’ latest requirements. One such highly efficient product is LUKOIL GENESIS oil, which we began to produce in Dubai,” said LUKOIL Lubricants Company gen-eral director Maxim Donde. LUKOIL GENESIS meets the requirements and is approved by the key European, American, Japanese and Korean car manufacturers, and is also compliant with API and ACEA international standards. This product line ensures higher engine protection and longer oil drain intervals. Since the beginning of LUKOIL’s cooperation with Al Habtoor Motors in 2015, the Russian company’s share in the U.A.E. lubricants market has reached 2 percent, in Qatar it grew to 7 percent, in Bahrain and Oman to 3 percent, in Kuwait to 2 percent. Over the next three years, the Company plans to double its shares in these markets.

ACHIEVEMENT

FORUM18

IN VOLGOGRAD, RUSSIA’S LEADING GREASES MANUFACTURER INTESMO HOSTED THE 1ST INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS FORUM “MINING INDUSTRY AND INNOVATIVE LUBRICANT SOLUTIONS”

The hospitable Volga Hall con-ference center provided the platform for discussion and networking for over 60 invit-ed representatives of leading

mining companies, equipment man-ufacturers, and LUKOIL’s lubricants experts.

The conference panel featured Yuri Plakitkin, Russia’s prominent fuel and energy expert, and the dep-uty director of the Energy Research Institute at the Russian Academy of Sciences, as well as representatives of service companies, developers of technology solutions, grease systems, and special-purpose equipment, such as Noria, SKF, Lincoln and others.

Volgograd wasn’t selected acci-dentally to host the event. In recent years, this city in southern Russia has become one of LUKOIL’s cen-ters for R&D and manufacturing of new products. Russia’s largest plastic greases manufacturing facility, the INTESMO plant, is located here, as is the Engineering Center, which de-velops and tests greases for different industries, including the mining in-dustry.

“The idea to gather representa-tives of mining companies at one venue and organize this forum emerged in 2016 as demand soared for the FLEX greases product line, which meets the mining industry’s

main needs. The intent was to create a communication platform for ex-perts in different fields of the mining industry, so they could share experi-ence, information on new develop-ments, solutions, and jointly search for ideas that aim to boost efficiency, optimize technology process, imple-ment modern innovative, energy- efficient, environment-friendly tech-nologies, methods and materials. The event facilitated a vibrant partners’ dialogue that enabled them to see new opportunities for expanding co-operation,” INTESMO general direc-tor Kirill Vereta said.

The participant list featured such companies as BELAZ, ALROSA, SUEK, Arkhangelskgeoldobycha, Kuzbassrazrezugol, Evrokhim, Catoca, Raspadskaya Coal Company, Russian Copper Company, SDS Ugol, Stroiservis and others. Many of them have already partnered with LUKOIL and are inter-ested in implementing the Company’s most advanced solutions.

FORUM

VOLGOGRAD HOSTS MINING INDUSTRY BUSINESS FORUM


“I liked the event program very much,” said Alexei Varyukhin, head of SUEK’s Procurement Dept. “The speeches delivered by distinguished experts in Russia’s energy strategy offered participants a chance to see the development curve of the coal industry and Russia’s energy sec-tor in general. Meanwhile, lubri-cants specialists demonstrated how proper use of oils and greases helps make the operations of coal compa-nies more efficient. Before the start of our partnership with LUKOIL we hadn’t used the opportunities to sub-stitute imports with domestic prod-ucts. However, since 2012 we have been successfully using the wide range of LUKOIL oils, and this year we launched the tests of INTESMO greases in our quarry machinery.”

Mikhail Rak, BELAZ deputy chief constructor and head of its Testing and Operations Dept., noted the con-ference’s practical format. “This was an excellent opportunity for business communication between equipment manufacturers, lubricant produc-ers and vehicle buyers. For us it is im-

portant to know how mining indus-try customers ‘breathe’, what BELAZ trucks they specifically use and under which conditions they opt to use dif-ferent types of LUKOIL oils,” Rak said.

On the last day of the forum, the

delegates visited the INTESMO greas-es plant and LUKOIL’s lubricant man-ufacturing facility in Volgograd. INTESMO’s Engineering Center at-tracted a great deal of attention, in no small part due to its testing equip-ment, which is absolutely unique in Russia.

“High manufacturing cul-ture is the calling card of LUKOIL Group’s companies. The forum par-

ticipants could witness that during their tour of LUKOIL’s manufactur-ing facilities in Volgograd. The per-formance of INTESMO’s own R&D center shows that LUKOIL contin-ues to move forward and improve

the quality of its products. As a ma-jor buyer of modern quarry machin-ery we shall by all means negotiate with leading foreign original equip-ment manufacturers the testing of LUKOIL’s new oils and greases,” Arkhangelskgeoldobycha Technical Support Dept. head Sergei Topchy shared his impressions.

The Volgograd conference demonstrated that the industry play-ers’ interest in LUKOIL’s innovation products is rising. INTESMO plans to hold regularly similar business gath-erings in its pursuit of new opportu-nities for increasing the mining com-panies’ production efficiency.

INTESMO GENERAL DIRECTOR

KIRILL VERETA

GREETS THE PARTICIPANTS

OF THE VOLGOGRAD FORUM

THE 1ST INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS FORUM “MINING INDUSTRY AND INNOVATIVE

LUBRICANT SOLUTIONS” GATHERED REPRESENTATIVES OF LEADING MINING

COMPANIES, EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURERS, AND LUKOIL’S LUBRICANT EXPERTS

DURING THE FORUM, THE DELEGATES VISITED THE INTESMO GREASES PLANT AND LUKOIL’S LUBRICANT MANUFACTURING FACILITY

IN VOLGOGRAD

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS20

WITH NEARLY TWO DECADES IN VARIOUS JOBS AT THE LOBAU PLANT, KARIN BAUMANN WAS A PERFECT FIT FOR LUKOIL WHEN THE RUSSIAN OIL GIANT TOOK OVER OMV’S CHIEF LUBRICANTS ASSET THREE YEARS AGO. TODAY, AS LUKOIL LUBRICANTS EUROPE’S PRODUCT MANAGER, HER JOB IS TO MAKE SURE THAT LUKOIL’S PRODUCT PORTFOLIO PROVIDES AN ADEQUATE RESPONSE TO CUSTOMER PREFERENCES AND NEEDS AS THE COMPANY EXPANDS ITS BUSINESS IN CENTRAL AND WESTERN EUROPE.

Baumann, a chemical engi-neer by training with a Ph.D in electrochemistry, entered the downstream industry in 1991.

“My first job was with Castrol in Austria, I was involved in product development of biodegradable flu-ids,” she says. “When OMV planned to build a new blending plant in Lobau, it needed new quality control labora-tories and in 1996 I joined OMV, tak-ing over quality control. Over the years I held several other jobs in ad-dition to my main one, I worked in quality control, quality management, stood in for the plant manager, pro-vided technical services, but every-thing I did always evolved around lu-bricants.”

At the time of the Lobau plant’s takeover by LUKOIL, Baumann was in charge of R&D, quality control and technical support. As she says, LUKOIL needed experienced staff to set up the business under the new LUKOIL brand. In most cases, includ-ing her own, the responsibilities and working conditions of former OMV employees remained more or less the same. The only thing that changed was the outlook.

“We were now in a lubricants company instead of being just a little tiny part of an integrated oil compa-ny where our asset had the role of lit-tle significance,” Baumann explains.

The transition was a multi-stage affair. The two companies agreed that over a 1.5-year period LUKOIL

would still be entitled to use the OMV brand and market OMV prod-ucts. During that period, all paper-work issued to existing customers carried both brand names, so they could adapt to the change and ulti-mately embrace the LUKOIL brand. By that time, the manufactur-ing of OMV products at Lobau had stopped, so the stocked green-and-blue OMV drums were gradually re-placed by LUKOIL’s red-and-white ones (and black-and-gold ones in the case of LUKOIL GENESIS engine oil). According to the Company’s market-ing strategy, LUKOIL GENESIS is its tier brand. The three horses offer a unique selling proposition in the oil industry. It perfectly fits the slogan: PASSION — PERFORMANCE — FUN.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

WE BUILD PRESENCE, ENTER NEW EUROPEAN MARKETS


However, from the very out-set Baumann and her co-work-ers were also involved in continu-ous exchange of information with their Moscow-based colleagues at the company’s corporate headquar-ters. Approximately six months be-fore the rights to the OMV brand ex-pired, both sides worked intensively to prepare the relaunch of the en-tire product line under the LUKOIL brand while maintaining the quality of product performance.

“Going through our product lines, we needed to decide on a case-by-case basis which name would be suit-able for the European market, and which wouldn’t,” says Baumann.

In most cases, OMV and LUKOIL portfolios carried similar products meaning the old could easily be re-placed with the new. In some oth-er instances, though, the match was

medium or minor and it sometimes required developing a new LUKOIL product. One such example is the gas engine oil, which was missing in the LUKOIL portfolio, and a new product named EFFORSE 4004 was eventually developed to fill the void. “In creat-ing LUKOIL’s European portfolio, the ultimate goal was to honor the long-time customers’ request not to miss anything from the old OMV portfo-lio,” says Baumann.

The process of product lines’ har-monization was difficult, she adds, because of different types of naming for Russian and European markets. In some cases, Russian names were kept despite sounding strange a little bit in Europe, while in others a joint decision was made to keep some part of OMV’s old brand name, and fit it into the new name.

For example, LUKOIL in Russia produces transmission oil market-

ed locally under the LUKOIL TM-4 and TM-5 brand names whose meaning is perfect-ly clear to domestic consum-ers. “In Europe, no one knows these names since this is pure-ly Russian certification. That is why we eventually agreed to keep OMV’s old BSX exten-sion for transmission oil, and use TRANSMISSION as the key word. That’s how we arrived at the LUKOIL TRANSMISSION SYNTH BSX name in the end,” explains Baumann.

A similar solution was found in the case of engine oil. OMV used to produce the OMV BIXXOL SPECIAL series, while in Russia LUKOIL’s premium engine oil brand was the GENESIS series. Both names were fol-lowed by extensions and viscosity grades.

Today, LUKOIL Lubricants Europe’s business is split approx-imately 50–50 between its key Austrian market and the for-eign markets such as Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Switzerland and Italy. The main goals are to maintain strong pres-ence at home, boost its market share in Germany and further develop LUKOIL’s business in Italy, which is a new market for the Austrian divi-sion, “inherited” from LUKOIL and put under the Vienna office’s respon-sibility during the takeover.

“Currently, the most attractive product in our portfolio is the pas-senger car engine oil range under the LUKOIL GENESIS brand. We try to keep up to date with the latest re-quirements of OEMs,” adds Baumann. “They frequently change them, issue new demands regarding certifica-tions and approvals.”

A big success story in coopera-tion with OEMs is the first fill deal LUKOIL has struck with a major German automotive brand. It in-cluded a major audit of the Lobau plant, and the deal provided a rap-id start into the OEM business for the Austrian facility. Other OEM proj-ects are on the way, and the plant in Lobau has become a significant part in implementing LUKOIL’s expansion strategy in the OEM business.

Also popular in the European market are LUKOIL’s industrial lubri-cants. According to Baumann, at the time when the Lobau plant was part of OMV’s Vienna oil refinery, she and her colleagues had a firsthand oppor-tunity to study the demand for lubri-cants at an industrial facility.

“We were developing numerous tailor-made products for specific ap-plications, fine-tuned to the needs of specific machines,” she adds. “This portfolio may not be very attractive, but it is also very valuable since these are specific applications, and in ma-ny cases you can tie the customer to the lubricant supplier. If he deals with a critical issue your product can solve, he will stay with it because any switch of product or supplier could cause difficulties in his opera-tions. One of such sensitive products is turbine oil, which our big indus-trial customers have remained loyal to even after we changed its name to TORNADO following the takeover.”

KARIN BAUMANN,

LUKOIL LUBRICANTS EUROPE

PRODUCT MANAGER

IN CREATING LUKOIL’S EUROPEAN PORTFOLIO, THE ULTIMATE GOAL WAS TO HONOR THE LONGTIME CUSTOMERS’ REQUEST NOT TO MISS

ANYTHING FROM THE OLD OMV PORTFOLIO

PRO PROFILE22

Margl, 36, earned his degree in chemistry at Higher Federal Institute of Chemistry/Vienna majoring in chemistry for indus-try and environmental technology. Prior to entering the lubricants industry he had

worked as field manager in the construction business, su-pervising soil contamination at Vienna’s main railway station. He quit that job in 2009 and started working for the Austrian Competence Center for Tribology, a main-

ly privately-funded research organization. Within four years, he rose from project member to project leader and mastered the fundamentals of lubrication science.

“There I learnt my first lessons about tribology, lubri-cants, wear, friction. It was quite a unique research center offering a specific interdisciplinary blend of machinery and chemistry knowledge,” remembers Matthias.

The main focus of the project he led was the analy-sis of industrial and automotive lubricants. The client was OMV, the former owner of LUKOIL’s plant in the Vienna suburb of Lobau. According to Margl, he was oversee-ing approximately 65,000 analyses of lubricants. In 2013, he was hired by OMV, and a year later, following the lo-cal plant’s acquisition by the Russian oil giant, he joined LUKOIL becoming the first member of its team in the Austrian capital.

The new beginning posed a lot of challenges, but Margl handled them with grace. Today, he is in charge of the company’s product safety management for Central, Western and Eastern Europe, and last summer the Vienna office launched cooperation with its Moscow-based par-ent company, LUKOIL Lubricants Company.

“In the beginning, it was quite tough. I already knew a lot about lubricants, but product safety is a specific area, a mix between chemistry and law. Essentially, it was a ‘one-man show,’ I had to learn most of the things on my own, and that made the job very hard, but I managed to suc-ceed,” adds Margl.

In Berlin, he took several training courses, but they were very short and couldn’t quite match the complexi-ty of his work. “The hardest was the classification of sub-stances. In 2015, the new CLP (Classification, Labeling and Packaging) legislation came into force in Europe. What made it even harder was the fact that product safety man-agers in other companies were not familiar with this leg-islation, too, so I was completely alone, and had nobody to ask,” he explains.

IN THE BUSINESS SO COMPLEX AND DEMANDING AS OURS, MANY OF OUR EMPLOYEES HOLD JOBS THAT KEEP THEM OUT OF THE LIMELIGHT DESPITE MAKING EXCELLENT CONTRIBUTIONS TO LUKOIL’S OVERALL SUCCESS. WHILE STAYING IN THE SHADOW, THEY STILL HELP US TAKE GIANT STEPS AS WE GROW OUR BUSINESS GLOBALLY. IN THIS ISSUE, WE WOULD LIKE YOU TO MEET MATTHIAS MARGL, PRODUCT SAFETY MANAGER AT LUKOIL LUBRICANTS EUROPE, THE MAN WHO SUCCESSFULLY HANDLES THE TASK OF MAKING OUR PRODUCTS COMPLIANT WITH EUROPEAN AND GLOBAL SAFETY STANDARDS.

PRO PROFILE

MEETMATTHIAS MARGL

LUKOIL LUBRICANTS | July 2017

The main focus in Margl’s job is the creation of material safety da-ta sheets (MSDS) confirming that the company’s products comply with the latest industry standards in terms of safety and current legislation. Keeping them up to date is very im-portant since some other aspects of the business such as product labeling, for instance, also depend on timely updates of relevant information.

“There is a section in an MSDS that carries information, which has to be printed on the label of the finished product. So if my MSDS isn’t ready, we can’t print labels, launch sales and reach the market,” explains Margl.

According to him, the pace of cre-ation of MSDS’s depends on the type of used additives. On a daily basis, Margl theoretically produces from 5 to 8 safety data sheets for 32 legisla-tion and language areas, which brings the tally to approximately 250 sheets per day. Last year, LUKOIL Lubricants Europe produced a total of over 5,000 updated and new MSDS’s.

Another important aspect of Margl’s job is the monitoring of safe-ty-related legislative changes. There are several communication channels that help him keep up to date, such as the web portals of local chambers of commerce and industry, as well as the SAP system, which automatically updates relevant changes. The quick-ness of reaction is highly important, and Margl is happy with the kind of feedback he’s getting from Moscow.

“The cooperation with our parent company has been highly efficient. I appreciate it very much, we maintain contact every two days, exchange opinions, and I am glad that we have opened this new channel, which is very important since this is the head-

quarters of the company and we are happy to be an important part of it,” he says. Moreover, the Vienna office recently issued its first ever MSDS for a Russian-made product, LUKOIL SN-2500 base oil, paving the way for continued cooperation in terms of creating data sheets for lubricants produced at LUKOIL’s Russian plants.

As he makes sure an MSDS is properly created and legally compli-ant, Margl has to keep in mind nu-merous issues such as potential dan-ger to workers’ health, availability of appropriate storage facilities, etc. Classifying a product as “dangerous

goods” triggers extra costs and re-quires additional safety measures.

“You need a specific driver for the truck, a specific tank for storage and transport, and so on,” he explains.

The challenges also include sensi-tive environmental issues.

“As you might know, Germany has specific legislation regarding wa-ter endangering. Sometimes I do MSDS for LUKOIL products to be sold in the German market, and I have to determine the water endangering class, too. The results are comparable to European results, we fully com-ply with local environmental regula-tions. LUKOIL products fit quite good in terms of meeting environmental regulations,” concludes Margl.

THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE

The part I love the most about my job is responding to chal-lenges, fixing problems. The big-gest challenge so far was the Relaunch Project two years ago. In spring 2015, we were required to generate safety data sheets for all products in the new LUKOIL portfolio. As a result, around 300 data sheets had to be creat-ed and translated within a very short time. With translations, this amounted to several thousand safety data sheets. The SAP/PSOD program had not yet been ful-ly configured for the new LUKOIL products and the pressure from the sales department was very high. The fact that the new legis-lation (CLP under GHS) came into force at the time was also aggra-vating. The Relaunch Project was the biggest challenge in my life so far, it was very exhausting but also very exciting. Ultimately, it was a success!The next step was sending our MSDS inventory (300 products for 30 jurisdictions, 9,000 MSDS’s) to our customers according to cur-rent legislation. For this, we de-veloped the automated MSDS-shipping process for our location in Vienna. Thus, the correct MSDS is automatically sent to our cus-tomers via the EHS (Environment, Health and Safety) system from SAP. This shipping process runs automatically overnight, daily.

23

THE MAIN FOCUS IN MARGL’S JOB IS THE CREATION OF MATERIAL SAFETY DATA SHEETS (MSDS) CONFIRMING THAT THE COMPANY’S

PRODUCTS COMPLY WITH THE LATEST INDUSTRY STANDARDS IN TERMS OF SAFETY AND CURRENT LEGISLATION

EXHIBITION24

EXHIBITION

GETTING CLOSER TO MEXICO

Prior to launching the Company’s operation in the Latin American market, the team of our ex-

perts took part in an automotive trade show in Mexico. The Expo-Provedores de Transporte exhibi-tion that was held in May, gathered in Monterrey providers of transpor-tation technology and services. It fea-tured more than 300 exhibitors, in-cluding car manufacturers, spare parts and components producers, as well as Mexico’s key transportation companies.

“Over the last year, LUKOIL has held a series of important negoti-ations with different market play-ers in Mexico. Our appearance at the Monterrey show provided another opportunity to make sure we’re on the same page with potential clients and future partners,” stressed Mexico project office leader and LUKOIL del-egation member Dmitry Golovin.

LUKOIL intends to start opera-tions in Mexico by promoting its lu-

bricants for commercial vehicles and industry. By the way, the LUKOIL AVANTGARDE product line of en-gine oil for commercial vehicles sparked a special interest among the show participants. LUKOIL lu-bricants have been approved and recommended by all Mexico-based original equipment manufactur-ers, providing a weighty advantage

to the Company. LUKOIL plans to build on its successful track record of lubricants’ supply to car plants in Russia and Europe, making a switch from local deliveries to global coop-eration projects with automakers.

The Mexican market is one of top-priority areas for expansion of LUKOIL’s lubricants business. Its key advantages include geograph-ical proximity and the free trade zone with the United States, as well as the immediate access to other markets in Latin America. Besides this, Mexico boasts one of the most

dynamically developing economies in the region. The world’s larg-est car producers such as General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, BMW, VW Group, Audi, Kia, Nissan, and Mercedes-Benz have factories in the country. According to an Ernst & Young estimate, Mexico is the sev-enth-largest car manufacturer on the globe.

LUKOIL is already supplying ma-rine lubricants to nine major in-ternational ports in Mexico. The Company’s next step is to create a subsidiary for manufacturing and sales of automotive and industri-al lubricants — LUKOIL Lubricants Mexico S. R.L. de C.V. Currently, the subsidiary company is being regis-tered. It is expected to start opera-tions in the coming fall.

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: PROJECT LEADER DMITRY GOLOVIN, SENIOR MANAGER

FOR OEM COOPERATION ANTON SILIN, PRODUCT MANAGEMENT SERVICE

HEAD DMITRY PANFILOV, LUKOIL LUBRICANTS MEXICO S.R.L. DE C.V. GENERAL

DIRECTOR ALEXEI BARANOV

THE LUKOIL AVANTGARDE PRODUCT LINE OF ENGINE

OIL FOR COMMERCIAL VEHICLES SPARKED A SPECIAL INTEREST AMONG THE SHOW

PARTICIPANTS

THE COMPANY’S EMPLOYEES ARE ITS MAIN ASSET. THANKS TO THE PEOPLE WHO INVEST THEIR TIME, EFFORT AND CREATIVE ENERGY, THE COMPANY CAN CLAIM LEADERSHIP IN THE LUBRICANTS INDUSTRY. IN RECENT YEARS, LUKOIL HAS BEEN “BRINGING UP” FUTURE INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS THROUGH THE PROGRAM OF HIRING UNIVERSITY GRADUATES WITH FIELD-SPECIFIC DEGREES AS PART OF OUR “PERSPECTIVE” PROJECT.

The program was launched seven years ago and has con-tinually proven to be ef-ficient. It is a pleasure to watch these young men and

women progress: having completed multi-faceted corporate training pro-grams and honed their practical in-dustry skills, in a year or two many of them filled backup managerial po-sitions, and became project leaders and section chiefs.

This year was marked by the big-gest campaign so far in terms of hir-ing young talent. We selected the best candidates who represent-ed 17 field-specific colleges in Russia

and Belarus, and had passed a se-ries of difficult tests and interviews. Consequently, 32 graduates became part of the LUKOIL team. Of those, 29 will be working at the head office of LUKOIL Lubricants Company, two will join INTESMO, and one will be hired by LUKOIL Lubricants Central Asia.

The majority of young specialists received offers to work in the OEM Cooperation Dept., R&D division and commercial service. It should be noted that this was the first year when the graduates of economic and finance departments of the Higher School of Economics and economic and finance department of the Gubkin Russian

State Oil and Gas University entered the project, and eventually got jobs in the Company’s Economic and Finance Dept.

“Since 2010, we have successful-ly carried out the ‘Perspective’ proj-ect. Each year, we are expanding its geographical reach. This year, we held Company Days in Russia and CIS lead-ing universities, took part in sever-al vacancy fairs, career forums, grad-uates allocation days, the ChemCamp international student forum. These events yielded a total of around 1,000 filled-out student questionnaires. The most successful candidates will soon join our ranks. Our goal is to educate tomorrow’s elite, the managers able to work at different levels, who are deeply knowledgeable in their area of expertise, and who strive to improve personally and make the Company better,” said LUKOIL Lubricants Company HR and administrative is-sues director Olga Proshutinskaya.

SYNTHETIC MOTOR OIL

LUKOIL AVANTGARDE PROFESSIONAL

* Compared to ACEA E4 requirements ** Compared to ACEA E7 requirements *** Compared to ACEA E7 requirements

Approvals/Meets requirements of:

• MB-Approval 228.5• MAN M3277• Volvo VDS-3• Scania LDF-3• Caterpillar ECF-2• Cummins CES 20077/72• Renault RLD-2, RXD• Ford WSS-M2C212-A1• Deutz DQC IV-10, III-10• MTU Category 3• DAF Extended Drain• MACK EO-N, EO-M PLUS

Extended oil change interval

API: CI-4, СFACEA: E4/E7SAE: 5W-30, 10W-40

“PERSPECTIVE 2017“ IS A TALENT DRAW

CORPORATE AFFAIRS

LUKOIL@Lubricants | July 2017 25

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