Competitions develop your career: how Rosneft and CASE-IN train engineers of the future

Rosneft Oil Company and the CASE-IN International Engineering Championship train and develop highly qualified personnel for Russia. A significant result of joint cooperation is the talented and ambitious employees of the company and its subsidiaries who participate in large–scale federal projects, develop professional skills and generate projects for subsequent implementation in the oil and gas industry. 

Working with young people is an important area of Rosneft's personnel policy. Since 2017, the company has been supporting one of the projects of the presidential platform "Russia – the land of opportunities", providing young people with prospects for personal and career growth.

Rosneft's management annually delegates teams of young specialists to the championship who, while solving engineering problems, acquire skills in analytical and critical thinking, time management and cross-functional interaction. And today, the company employs employees who have been helped by CASE-IN to become masters of a broader profile.  

Among them, Pavel Klimkov, an employee of the Slavneft-Krasnoyarsk oil company, is a multiple winner of scientific and technical conferences, a three-time winner of competitions under the auspices of the CASE-IN championship. Slavneft-Krasnoyarsk Oil & Gas is a joint venture of NK Rosneft (operator) and Gazprom Neft, engaged in the development of oil and gas fields in the Evenki region of the Krasnoyarsk Territory.

Pavel's story in the CASE-IN began in 2022, when a team of young specialists from Slavneft-Krasnoyarsk Oil Company took the 7th place at the qualifying stage. But the guys did not give up and a year later they became the winners of the League of Young Professionals, and in 2024 they were waiting for champion success in a similar competition among the CIS countries. In the autumn of the same year, the team led by Pavel Klimkov won the REN Cup gold at the Russian Energy Week International Forum, and the well-deserved award was personally presented to the winners by Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak.

Pavel recently became a prize-winner of the XXV All-Russian Engineer of the Year 2025 competition in the Young Engineering category, which allowed him to reach a new level of the engineering community and gain an impetus for professional growth. "As part of the competition, I worked to systematize my engineering experience, prepared a detailed report on the solutions implemented in production and went through the expert evaluation stage," Pavel Klimkov said about the nuances of participation. "I reflected my achievements in the CASE-IN championship in my competitive resume, which was undoubtedly a plus."

During his three years of participation in the engineering championship, Pavel Klimkov worked his way up from engineer to chief specialist, simultaneously joining the personnel reserve of his company. The young man believes that thanks to the CASE-IN, he was able to reveal his leadership qualities, acquired the ability to defend his chosen position and motivate the team. "The project provided much more than just the skills to solve engineering problems – CASE-IN taught us to think structurally and see the whole problem, from the technical part to economic efficiency," Pavel said.

In 2025, the young specialist was already evaluating the projects of the participants as an expert of the championship, and his plans are to become a mentor and prepare teams for CASE-IN competitions.

Together with Pavel, his colleague Andrey Kusakin forged victories in the engineering championship from the very beginning. In addition to the competitive part, he also evaluated the decisions of the contestants and took an active part in the development of the championship. For his contribution to the popularization of engineering and technical education, Andrey Kusakin was inducted into the CASE-IN Hall of Fame.

According to Andrey, the main value of the CASE-IN is that the project is as close as possible to the real production tasks of the industry. The young man now uses the skills of searching and analyzing information, working in limited time conditions, in his professional activities.

 Rosneft not only pays attention to the development of career and professional trajectories of young employees, but also trains the future generation of professionals at the Student CASE-IN League. Experienced oilmen participate in the development of tasks for the championship, and then evaluate the final decisions of the youth. The authors of the best ideas get a real opportunity for further employment in the perimeter of the company.