“There is no sense to sell Bashneft now”. Interview with Korsik

In the past year, Bashneft became a state-owned company. In July, the court seized a controlling stake of the oil company, which was owned by AFK Systema. Later, the main owner of the corporation Vladimir Yevtushenko was moved under house arrest. And in early December, by the court’s decision, Systema transferred its 73.94% stake in Bashneft to the state. For many employees, the first reaction was fear. President of Bashneft Alexander Korsik tells how he overcame that fear, and what changed for Bashneft with the arrival of a new shareholder.

- Last year was psychologically difficult for Bashneft. After the arrest of the main owner of Systema Vladimir Yevtushenko, what happened in the company? Didn’t you have a feeling that soon you would go look for a job?

- For many employees, the first reaction was not surprising, it was fear: "what will happen next? Where will we work?" But we were able to create the right atmosphere in the company: all agreed that what is happening was out of our control, so the correct behavior is to calm down and continue working. This period of unrest quickly passed. By and large, the company ceased to discuss this topic. Did I think that I could go away? No, I didn’t. I immediately said to myself that I can’t voluntarily leave the company, in this difficult period, I had to be here. I thought how to do the business was as usual, the company had the money, people didn’t go away and nothing collapsed. I can’t say that at that moment I thought much about my own future after the change of the shareholder. I couldn’t influence the decisions of the new owner, and if it thought that there was any doubt in me, I would have to go away without a moment's hesitation.