2017 Annual General Meeting

On 7 April, Rusneftegaz hosted our Annual General Meeting in Moscow for a contingent of our executives and key stakeholders, who engaged in crucial discussions regarding our current operations. These talks followed the publication of our 2016 financial statements in the days prior, which were prepared in accordance with all material International Financial Reporting Standards, otherwise known as IFRS, and were audited pursuant to the relevant laws. On the day itself, all proposed resolutions were passed, including resolutions to approve our financial statements and our annual report, both of which demonstrate the success we have achieved over the past twelve months. It was also resolved to retain the services of our external auditor, in addition to maintaining the current composition of both our current board of directors and our audit committee, with each of these unchanged for over two years.  
  
Overall, Rusneftegaz is pleased to report that our revenue has increased by 2,3% in the 2016 financial year to $441,0 million, compared to $431,2 million in 2015. This was primarily due to a 19,9% rise in revenue from electricity generation, a result of the cumulative $287,2 million investment in production infrastructure during the past two years. However, the uplift in earnings from our electricity segment was offset by falls in revenue from our oil and gas segments, which declined 18,5% year-on-year from $197,7 million to $161,1 million as a result of falling oil prices. As a result, it was also agreed at the Annual General Meeting that no dividend should be paid for the results recorded in the last twelve months, as this will allow us to expedite our investment plans for the remainder of our five-year strategy. Such endeavors will yield increasingly efficient operations that will be capable of operating more profitably than today. 
  
Moreover, the total reported profit for the period increased 12,1% from $183,1 million to $205,4 million, with 44,0%, or $78,5 million, deriving from oil and gas production. The remaining 61,6% of our remaining profits, or $110,0 million, originated from our extensive electricity generation program. The total costs incurred by our petroleum segment through the course of business amounted to $82,6 million, compared to $169,9 million recognized by our electricity production division. The other $10,0 million in costs reported are attributed to the expenses of our headquarters. Overall, our total costs are calculated as the sum of costs of sales, general and administrative expenses, operating expenses and any foreign exchange losses. Over the year, Rusneftegaz made a net gain of $0,5 million from accumulated interest and a further $0,1 million from derivative financial instruments. 
  
In the last financial year, 2,5% of our income was derived from sales outside Russia, compared to 5,7% the year before, and as a result of this, the total export duties we paid declined 71,0% from $8,0 million to $2,3 million. As such, there was also a corresponding decrease in our transport expenses from $8,2 million to $6,2 million. Such falls were also factors in the decline in our reported operating expenses, which were reduced by 42,8% from $17,9 million to $10,6 million. Moreover, Rusneftegaz acknowledges a 3,0% rise in our general and administrative expenses from $9,0 million to $9,3 million due to marginal increases in salaries paid, professional fees and insurance costs in 2016. On the other hand, similar decreases can also be noted for the cost of labor during the period, reported as a component of our cost of sales, from $38,7 million to $38,1 million. 
  
The overall amount classified as our costs of goods sold during the period fell from $248,1 million in 2015 to $235,6 million in 2016. This was primarily due to a 13,6% decline in our fuel expenses, attributable to the worldwide deflation in oil prices. This reduction has also had an indirect effect on our mineral extraction tax payments, after the Russian Government announced exemptions in 2015 which have remained in place during the 2016 financial year. As a result, payments have fallen 22,6% from $28,2 million to $21,8 million, despite our oil production increasing during the period from 16.713 barrels per day (bpd) to 17.474 bpd, largely because of our $33,2 million investment in equipment during 2015. 
  
Likewise, our escalation in oil production was also a contributing factor to the increase in our depreciation, depletion and amortization recorded in the last financial year, which rose from $42,6 million in 2015 to $45,7 million. Of the reported figure, $16,0 million is attributable to the depletion of our oil stocks, a decrease of 4,6% from $16,7 million, and the remaining $28,9 million is the deprecation of our assets, a rise of 8,8% from $26,6 million the year before. In both years, none of our assets were considered amortizable. The inflated figure reported for depletion was due to the previously acknowledged upturn in our oil production, whereas the rise in recognized depreciation was a result of capital spending in 2015, culminating in a greater value of assets to be depreciated. 
  
Capital expenditure during 2016 totaled $274,5 million, an increase of 214,9% from the previous year when such expenditures amounted to $87,2 million. Of this total, $254,1 million was spent on electricity generation equipment and $20,0 million on oil and gas infrastructure. This is compared to spending of $33,2 million on electricity generation property and $53,8 million on oil and gas assets in 2015. Aggregated with currency translation differences, this has resulted in a 68,3% increase in property, plant and equipment reported in our financial statements, from $586,8 million in 2015 to $987,7 million in 2016, after all reportable factors were accounted for. 
  
At the end of the financial year, our organization held $96,4 million in current assets, including $15,5 million of inventories, $10,2 million of receivables and $5,5 million of assets held for sale. This is compared to $106,7 million in the previous financial year, composed of $7,5 million of inventories, $11,4 million of receivables and $5,0 million of assets held for sale. To continue, Rusneftegaz also reports in our financial statements total cash and cash equivalents of $65,3 million, down from $82,8 million on 31 December 2015. During the financial year, our company achieved a total cash flow from operating activities of $227,9 million, an increase of 74,2% from $130,8 million the year before. In January 2016, Rusneftegaz received an interest-free loan of $250,0 million, repayable within one year, and on the 31 December 2016 reported an outstanding liability of $20,8 million. Our other current liabilities, including all payables, increased 103,5% from $52,8 million to $107,5 million, with non-current liabilities also rising 33,9% from $34,2 million to $45,8 million. The inflation in our liabilities from provisions can be attributed to exchange rate differences, and deferred tax liabilities rose due to expenditure on assets during the previous financial year. 
  
Rusneftegaz accumulated a total income tax bill of $38,6 million for the profits we earned during the period, compared to $32,7 million in the previous year, and paid other taxes of $4,9 million. These are classified as taxes that are not income tax, mineral extraction tax or export duty, and said payments fell from $4,2 million in 2016. The income tax rate charged remained at 20,0% during 2016 and is not expected to change in the next financial year. However, this comparatively corresponds with 8,7% of revenues earned, up from 7,6% in the prior period, mostly due to differences in reporting between IFRS and tax laws. Because of this, our organization recognizes deferred tax assets of $0,2 million and deferred tax liabilities of $18,9 million in lieu of the disparities between depreciation reported in the consolidated financial statements and in tax returns. 
 
Similarly, $0,8 million of deferred tax assets were reported in the previous financial year, with deferred tax liabilities of $10,8 million. Rusneftegaz has forecasted in 2017 that revenues from our electricity production will rise further as a result of the investments we made during previous years. Likewise, earnings from our oil and gas production are also projected to increase in alignment with both predicted commodity price rises and investments made during the last two years. However, volatility in commodity prices means there is a degree of uncertainty in such projections. Our company also intends to continue our current policy of reinvesting any earnings into useful assets whilst maintaining sufficient levels of cash, as current projections suggest that such actions result in higher profits in future years. 
 
To continue, Rusneftegaz will also continue to focus our investments on increasing electricity production and adequately maintaining all petroleum assets, due to the continuing volatility in commodity markets and the political actions against both the Russian Federation and the oil and gas industry. Our organization foresees much of our future growth deriving from electricity production, and in the longer term intends to continue our expansion both in the Russian Federation and overseas. Furthermore, we maintain our desire to be able to use its own technical expertise to produce power equipment by 2030, as the acquisition of new equipment is currently the largest cash outflow reported in the consolidated financial statements. Rusneftegaz also maintains an ambition to be one of the five largest energy companies in Russia by revenue within as short time frame as reasonably achievable. ​