Rosneft Mentors Claim Top Honours at All-Russian and Regional Competitions

On 2 March, Russia marks Mentors' Day for the first time - a professional holiday established by Presidential Decree to promote and develop the institution of mentorship.

Rosneft's mentorship system is a cornerstone of the company's approach to transferring and developing accumulated professional knowledge and skills from experienced employees to new workers and young specialists.

The corporate mentorship institute encompasses work with young specialists and workers, competency development and support for mentors, as well as mentor participation in corporate, industry and international professional skills competitions and championships.

At Rosneft, the mentorship system spans more than 100 subsidiary companies. In 2025, the number of mentors exceeded 13,800, with more than 15,500 individuals receiving mentorship.

To raise the profile of the mentor's role and identify best practices in the field, the company holds an annual Best Mentor competition. The results determine the top mentors and the leading enterprises in the integrated mentorship effectiveness rating. Each year, more than 3,000 people sharpen and develop their skills through these events.

Among the achievements of Rosneft's specialists are numerous victories and podium finishes at all-Russian competitions, including Best Mentorship Practices and Breakthrough Technologies for Labour Productivity, as well as their regional qualifying rounds.

Mentor Sergei Skopich of Orenburgneft played a pivotal role in the development of Roman Korobkin, now one of the enterprise's best welders. Skopich helped him master the craft, offered guidance and set him on his professional path. Roman's achievements include a podium finish at the All-Russian Professional Skills Competition in St Petersburg, and a gold medal as part of the Russian national team at the Arc Cup World Welding Championship in China.

In 2025, Anatoly Shesternin, an engineer at Slavneft-Krasnoyarskneftegaz, was awarded the state distinction For Mentorship. All of Shesternin's mentees traditionally claim first place at scientific and technical conferences and continue to advance in their careers. Also in 2025, Elena Petrova, a specialist at the same enterprise, was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the international Case-IN Engineering Championship in recognition of her contributions to supporting young professionals.

Anna Sedletskaya, an engineer at RN-Proektirovaniye Dobycha, is the winner of the corporate Best Mentor 2025 award. Under her guidance, young specialist Darya Griva took first place at the Interregional Scientific and Technical Conference (ISTC); the previous year, Griva received a bronze at ISTC for developing a strategy to supply an LNG plant with refrigerants.

Over his career at Angarsk Petrochemical Company, Dmitry Kuzmin has introduced around ten rationalisation proposals. He is also actively engaged in mentoring: through his involvement, the authors of approximately 30 academic papers have placed among the prize-winners at conferences of various levels. One of Kuzmin's mentees was named a laureate of the All-Russian Engineer of the Year competition in the Engineering Art of the Young category.

Elena Mitrishkina has worked at Novokuibyshevsk Petrochemical Company for 40 years. More than 25 trainees have passed through the so-called Mitrishkina School, many of whom have repeatedly placed in the corporate professional skills competition Best in the Profession and have continued to advance up the career ladder. Following the plant-level stage of the corporate competition, Elena Mitrishkina was named Best Mentor for Young Specialists.

Leonid Akimov, a fitter at the Angarsk Polymer Plant, has worked at the enterprise for 45 years. Over the course of his mentoring career, he has trained seven highly skilled specialists who now work across various departments. In recognition of his contribution to workforce development, Leonid Akimov has been named the plant's best mentor and his portrait has been added to the factory's Roll of Honour.

Department of Information and Advertising
Rosneft Oil Company
March 2, 2026

Keywords: Social news 2026