To be a Success to the Benefit of the City and the Region
Last Year President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to outline the new national projects of Russia. A good example is Togliattiazot. The plant is among the top five taxpayers of the Samara Region (last year it paid RUB 4.9 billion to the federal and regional budgets). It is a successful business which is known for its social initiatives. TOAZ provides assistance in the renovation of public and healthcare institutions, supports socially vulnerable citizens, orphanages, veterans of labour, and disabled people. The enterprise organises awareness-raising lectures and charity concerts. With the involvement of TOAZ, a mini-park with a fountain and a promenade area was created in the place of the destroyed Mayak Cinema in Komsomolsky District.
Maximum Business Involvement as a Driver of National Projects
Last Year President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to outline the new national projects of Russia. These projects define the goals and objectives in three key domains and must enable our country to prosper and compete with the world’s leading economies. Effective implementation of national initiatives can only be guarantees with business involved to the greatest extent possible. It is rewarding to be confident in saying that Togliatti-based companies work towards the delivery of national projects.
A good example.
One of the examples is Togliattiazot. The plant is among the top five taxpayers of the Samara Region (last year it paid RUB 4.9 billion to the federal and regional budgets). It is a successful business which is known for its social initiatives. TOAZ provides assistance in the renovation of public and healthcare institutions, supports socially vulnerable citizens, orphanages, veterans of labour, and disabled people. The enterprise organises awareness-raising lectures and charity concerts. With the involvement of TOAZ, a mini-park with a fountain and a promenade area was created in the place of the destroyed Mayak Cinema in Komsomolsky District.
One of the reasons Togliattiazot appeals to job seekers as an employer is compensation, which is competitive according to regional standards and is paid on a regular basis. Today, average paycheck for operating personnel at TOAZ is 52,000 roubles. Besides, every worker is entitled to all fringe benefits, including voluntary health insurance, a referral to kindergartens, subsidized vouchers to recreation centers and Nadezhda Holiday Resort. Last year the company launched a corporate housing program. In 2019, 92 employees were given housing.
An assistant in study
TOAZ leadership realised a long time ago that the issue of staff training is something employers must care about on their own. This is why the enterprise offers training and development programs to its personnel (including professional contests, a mentorship program), and provides vocational counselling.
TOAZ organises guided tours for students, provides assistance in the organisation of contests for advanced students studying Chemistry. In September, vocational classes were opened at School No. 41 and Gymnasium No. 35 where around 50 high school students can study Chemistry, Physics, Maths, and Computer Science at an advanced level. To make it possible, the company renovated classrooms and procured cutting-edge classroom equipment. Students are given aid in preparing for Academic Olympics and university admission tests with a prospect for further employment with Togliattiazot. The key objective of this initiative is to motivate graduates to make an informed choice of engineering careers and trade jobs according to the conditions of the labour market and individual abilities.
Those who are at the retirement age are attended by one of the world’s largest producer of nitrogen fertilizers as well. In 2018, Togliattiazot was the first Russian enterprise to come up with an upskilling initiative for elderly people. TOAZ’s Chemistry of Experience Project offers classes for pre-retirement and retirement age people in English, Computer Literacy and a basic course in Entrepreneurship. This knowledge should help elderly people find their own place in the new economic context. The initiative appealed to the community, and 47 people have already taken part in the pilot project. In June 2019, the first season of the Chemistry of Experience campaign came to an end with the presentation of business projects prepared by the audience. It is important that admissions to the second season of this project started the other day, meaning that more citizens of Togliatti will be able to develop their skills.
Environment as Top Priority Environmental issues are more than just words for our city. In the city of big chemistry, there is hardly anyone who would be indifferent about it.
Considering that both leaders and workers at Togliattiazot live in Togliatti, since 2012 the enterprise has been running a large-scale program for modernisation. It is aimed at upgrading and improving the equipment to increase the overall efficiency and productivity of TOAZ, as well as to reduce harmful emissions. The total investment in the programme through its implementation has already exceeded 33 billion rubles. That the approach chosen is justified: at the end of 2018, the indicator of pollutant emissions into the atmosphere showed 33 % of the permitted level determined by the Administration of Rosprirodnadzor for the Samara Region.
Thanks to TOAZ’s significant investments in environmental protection measures (more than RUB 1.5 billion in 2014-2018) and equipment modernization, the company's environmental performance is improving. Over the last five years, the volume of air emissions has fallen almost three times.
As one of the leading producers of chemical products, Togliattiazot intends to remain among the world's leaders in terms of environmental parameters. The design of all the company’s facilities is based on the latest environmental protection solutions and the best available technologies. Tellingly, last year TOAZ raised international finance for the construction of a new urea unit. Obtaining an authorisation for the project required a third-party audit of the company’s compliance with the standards of the International Finance Corporation, including environmental safety, health and social policy. No issues were raised by the auditors.
Furthermore, TOAZ, whose operations depend on the availability of water resources, has been actively involved in efforts for the improvement of the Volga environmental status. Prior to sending waste water to the Saratov Reservoir, it is treated at the TOAZ treatment facilities which have been proving their efficiency by accepting and processing waste water not only from the Togliattiazot industrial site and the enterprises of the Northern Industrial Hub, but also from household consumers throughout the Komsomolsky District of Togliatti, including the Povolzhsky Microdistrict, since 1978.
Water treatment is carried out for 30 different components, including ammonia, water-dissolved urea, methanol, nitrogen and phosphates. TOAZ carries out regular activities to raise the efficiency of the treatment facilities, which helped reduce excessive emissions by more than 20 % in five years.
Besides, TOAZ is taking part in the program for the reproduction of biological resource in the Volga. Fry of carp and other fish species are annually planted in the water area of the Saratov Reservoir.
New horizons
Togliattiazot recently reported that the management of the enterprise approved the investment program until 2019 in the volume of RUB 39 million. In addition to the construction of Urea Unit 3 with a capacity of 2,200 tons per day, the program includes further modernisation of biological treatment facilities, the construction of the company’s own water conduit, and the procurement of new rolling stock to ensure uninterrupted product supplies to customers.
Furthermore, TOAZ leaders are currently working on a new strategic development program for the next five years, which will define the scope and timing for a number of large-scale projects. It means that Togliattiazot will go on to operate successfully to the benefit of the city and the region and contribute to the delivery of national projects.
Togliattiazot (TOAZ), a leading producer of ammonia in Russia, ranks 247th in the RAEX-600 rating published by Kommersant.
In 2019, 174 children aged 7 to 17 visited recreational and health centers. In August, 100 of them went on holiday to the Dream Summer Camp located at the Black Sea in the village of Dzhubga, Tuapse District. The transfer services and hot meals were also sponsored by the enterprise. 74 children were given vouchers for wellness programs in Togliatti’s Rainbow Recreation Center in a pine forest on the Volga river. According to the collective agreement, parents paid as little as 30 % of the holiday package value.
Around 50 high school students have opened a new school year in the vocational classes in Gymnasium No. 35 and School No. 41 in Togliatti, created at the initiative of Russia’s largest ammonia producer Togliattiazot.