It seems that whatever Yukos, Russia’s second-largest oil company, does is on a huge scale. And that is certainly the case with its human-resources programs. With the help of his team of HR policy-makers, Sergei Gorkov is responsible for a synthesis of social programs that cover some 90,000 employees all over Russia. Many of Yukos’ programs are not just unique in Russia, but are unparalleled in the world — such as the New Civilization — a children’s holiday camp based on economic and management games, that aims to develop confidence and leadership skills among youth in the regions.

What did you study?
I am a lawyer by education and I worked in the Civil Service until 1994, when I started work as HR manager at Menatep Bank, and I have been working in HR management ever since. In fact, they are related topics and are becoming more so.

What kind of social program for pensioners does Yukos have?
We have a special social project for 36,000 pensioners who have worked in our company in the northern regions. These people came to the northern regions during the Soviet times and gave away their health, their youth, and their energy while working for the oil sector. Now some of them want to move to the European part of Russia because the climate where they live is bad for the elderly, and Yukos helps them do that. The company contributed 10 percent of its shares to the program fund. From 2005, all the members of this program will receive allowances. There are several conditions, though; for example, one needed to have worked in the company for 10 years by the end of 1999.

What about your clothing program?
It provides all our employees with special clothing to protect them from harsh weather conditions. The clothes are designed with the corporate colors and emblem.

Could you outline your trailer program?
Our third project provides trailers for workers, because they work outside of the cities for shifts as long as two weeks, so they need a place to live. We buy them trailers that are made according to European standards, with ovens, air conditioning, TVs and heaters. Four to six people can live in a trailer. Last year we provided 300 such trailers; this year we plan to bring in another 400.

What motivates these programs?
We want to take care of our people. It’s a question of caring about the quality of their labor, their living standards, their health and their future.

What is the New Civilization?
In 1995 we created a movement that was called the New Civilization. It involves more than 200,000 schoolchildren in Russia. It is based on economic and management games. At the Newlandia camp, they participate in “presidential” and “parliamentary” elections, a government, civil service and private enterprises. The children, who now have their own flag and emblems, earn wages and pay taxes, they learn how to resolve conflicts and stand up for their own opinions. This movement is based on schools but the camps will become international next year. We also have holiday camps where children can relax in the summer.

Why were the New Civilization camps set up?
We care about the next generation because we know that in the future we will need good managers. Unlike the older generation, they need to have a new outlook on life. For them to achieve their goals, they need to stay away from the problems— like drugs, for example — that plague our society.

Is the New Civilization program just for children whose parents work at Yukos?
In the towns where we work, practically all children have parents working at Yukos, and most of these children will grow up to work in the oil industry. But we welcome all the children, including those whose parents don’t work for the company.

Does this program help the company’s reputation?
Yes, but it is far from a pure PR activity. Drug abuse and apathy are real problems in small towns in the regions, because there is nothing for young people to do there. This program is much more than a PR action; it is an effort to develop the youth. And at the end of the day, they live in our towns; they affect our existence and our production. Some of them will grow up and get jobs at the company.

Do you have any other projects for the society as a whole?
I want to stress that it is the government’s responsibility to worry about the youth and the rehabilitation of the elderly in European Russia. Nonetheless, Yukos understands its social duty in the regions. We don’t just think about the company — although we obviously do think about the company — we also share the responsibility for social development with the regions.

Do you have any other projects?
Yes, we also have educational projects. Knowing that secondary education doesn’t receive much funding, we have created the so-called “Yukos Classes” in all our towns. They prepare students for getting into colleges and universities. We selected the best teachers and the most promising students for this.

We also work extensively with higher education institutions; we help them financially, while also offering 500 various grants to qualifying students. We have created student clubs at four higher education schools. Another big project is related to online education.

Do you think that other companies should take some social responsibility?
I think that it depends on the strategy of a company, and each company has the right to choose its strategy. Although I think that every company, to some extent or another, should be involved in solving the problems in the regions. Some companies have a more conservative attitude toward this: They pay their taxes and are involved in some kind of sponsorship activities. Others, like us, develop a whole movement. I don’t want to tell other companies what they should do. But it is true that corporate citizenship is not a very well-developed idea in Russia and that is why we are leaders in it.

What’s your policy on training?
We have many corporate programs, including the GAAP accounting program and management courses, in eight study centers. I can’t even begin to list the seminars we run; in the first half of this year we trained 20 thousand people. We have distance-learning courses so that people in the regions of Siberia can study.

Do you have special training programs for recent graduates?
We have gone beyond that. Once someone graduates from university, they are on a special educational program for three years. It includes various economic games, as well as scientific and technical conferences. We have other special educational programs in Moscow for those who are active and show leadership potential. The graduate program also provides for a series of social benefits, such as real-estate financing for young specialists.

What kind of qualities are you looking for in a good manager?
We don’t have a slogan like Coca-Cola for this, because, generally speaking, we are a production company. But there is an assessment center competency model that we use. Of course, first it is important that the person be highly qualified, and not just in the technical aspects of production, but in the basics of the economic processes.

Second, we value results-orientated employees. Third, it is important for us that a person is active, innovative and receptive to innovation, because Yukos is developing very fast. eceptive to innovation, because Yukos is developing very fast.