Gazprom’s IRO moves to Rosneft

Andrey Baranov, Gazprom’s IRO of seven years, has moved to state-controlled oil major Rosneft. Prior to his IR tenure, Baranov served as deputy head of the analytical division at the Russian gas major. He holds a PhD in economics from the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute for US and Canadian Studies.

Rosneft also announced the appointment of Andrey Gromadin, a former vice president at JPMorgan Chase, as deputy head of IR.

How is your new team set up?

I was studying the idea of joining Rosneft’s team for quite some time before the official offer had been made. And of course I was aware of the elevated level of professionalism required by the largest Russian oil company. Nevertheless, I was astonished by the efficient and effective performance of my new colleagues.

We are working on strengthening the IR team and improving the department’s performance objectives. Recently, Andrey Gromadin, a former oil and gas analyst from J.P. Morgan and one of the top-rated professionals in the sector, has joined us, contributing fresh ideas to improve our structural product. We are constantly aiming to align ourselves with best international practices.

Do you find IR issues in the oil sector are similar to those of the gas sector?

The oil and gas industry on the whole is a very complex business with many peculiarities in each and every sector. The oil industry has some notable differences with the gas sector, however. From an IR perspective, in my opinion, it is the company that counts, and Rosneft is a really unique corporation from every point of view – its scale, assets and projects portfolio, share of the global hydrocarbon production – all of these demonstrate its dynamic and constant strive to capitalization appreciation.

On the other hand, Rosneft sets very ambitious goals for further development, which I am sure will be met, given its tremendous potential. Therefore I have no doubts that I found the right place to develop my career, and that this is a fantastic personal growth opportunity.

What are the plans for Rosneft’s IR programme for the upcoming half year?

In the beginning of 2015 our CEO approved a new program of activities, targeting more intense actions related to market capitalization growth targets. We are planning to improve our communications with investors both in Europe and in US, extending our scope to the Asian investor base, as well.

With capital markets access and global macro conditions having both deteriorated, the company retains a conservative budgeting approach, relying mainly on its internal financing abilities.  The current financial situation is stable and balanced, but we’re constantly looking for opportunities to accelerate new project developments.

We also work on corporate governance improvements: this year four highly professional international specialists became members of our board of directors, two of whom are independent.