The Contest’s target audience is local communities, education and cultural institutions, non-profit organizations, public associations, and mass media in the regions of the Company's presence.

The partners are local non-profit organizations and municipal authorities.

The Social and Cultural Projects Contest has been held by LUKOIL since 2002. The first contest was held in Perm Krai. Geographically the contest has expanded substantially over these past years. It currently comprises 10 subjects of the Russian Federation. Since 2004, the contest has been held in Volgograd and Astrakhan Oblasts, since 2005 in the Komi Republic and West Siberia, since 2007 in Nizhniy Novgorod Oblast, since 2008 in Kaliningrad Oblast and the Republic of Kalmykia, since 2010 in Tatarstan.

The overall number of applications submitted over 10 years exceeded 9,000. More than 2,100 socially oriented projects were implemented, and the amount allocated for their implementation neared 360 million RUR.

In 2011 the Contest budget came to 74.5 million RUR. In 2007 it was 39.5 million RUR, in 2008 50.3 million RUR, and in 2009 60 million RUR.

Submitted Applications and Financed Projects:

Contest categories in all regions include the same themes: “Environment”, “Charity”, “Culture and Arts”, "Physical Training, Sports and Tourism” and “Homeland”. However, there may be supplemental themes added to the categories that are inherent to the specific area or are accounted for by the social priorities of the state.  Thus, in 2008, being the year of the family, such an additional category was called "Family Values". Two thousand nine saw the introduction of a special category marking the Year of Youth. Two thousand ten was the year of the 65th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War, and that is why a relevant category was introduced to support projects that promote the said theme. In 2011 a number of categories were dedicated to the Company’s 20th anniversary and the 50th anniversary of Russian space exploration.

The commencement and results of the Contest are disseminated in the local media, to governmental authorities, education and cultural institutions, and public organizations. Contest-related information is also available on the website of OAO LUKOIL's subsidiaries.

The Company monitors all of the projects sponsored by it and selects the best projects of the year. Project collections are published following the Contest.

Implementation of Contest projects in the regions of the Company's operations helps develop social infrastructure and create new jobs. For example, one project creates up to five work places. By assisting the most active representatives of the public in addressing urgent social issues related to regional development, the Company encourages individuals to act consciously, deliberately, and actively. It promotes introduction of new mechanisms into the non-profit sector that help boost the performance of non-profit organizations. One of the things to point out is that the Contest is based on a model of trilateral cooperation between the business community, government authorities and the public. The format of the Contest provides for close cooperation with officials in the subjects of the Federation and local municipal authorities, and the engagement of residents of the areas covered by it and non-profit organizations in addressing social problems.

Given the fact that one of the principles of the Contest is project co-financing, the mandatory precondition for an applicant company to obtain a grant is its own contribution of at least 30% of the amount requested.  It was calculated that each ruble invested by oilmen into social projects ‘raises’ up to three rubles of additional investments.

The key goal of the best environmental projects is to provide environmental enlightenment and to create awareness of environmental issues. Thus, for example, in Astrakhan Oblast we are implementing a project that is aimed at publishing children’s coloring books in Russian and English devoted to environmental issues; in Kalmykia environmental research expeditions and field parties are arranged to monitor biological features of the endangered species to include in the Red Book of Kalmykia. In the Tazovskiy settlement, West Siberia, environmental-ethnographic tourism is popular among adolescents. In addition to that, environmental theater was created, and the young people's environmental movement was organized. In a number of regions eco-routes were opened, and environmental youth camps were organized. For two consecutive years our grants are helping representatives of Kaliningrad Oblast implement a project to protect the unique natural monument of geology – the mobile dunes of the Curonian Spit; and for setting up recreation zones near the small rivers of the Oblast. In addition, the project aimed at the protection of the small rivers of Kaliningrad Oblast was implemented. It includes the construction of facilities near the rivers to set up recreation areas. Within the framework of the project a number of scientific and educational conferences were held. They were dedicated to environmental protection. Some other events include a photographic contest, contests of artists entitled “I Draw the Nature of My Native Land”, and an issue of informational leaflets “Nature that Surrounds Us.” In 2009-2010, the environmental organization “Green Meridian” realized a media project in Kaliningrad Oblast. A TV series devoted to environmental issues were broadcast on local TV channels as part of the project. The authors appealed to the public with such issues as pollution of water bodies in Kaliningrad and its Oblast, protection of the seashore, waste recycling, etc. In 2010, Volgograd Oblast saw the creation of “Melovoy” nature park which became the venue for a pilot project aimed at implementing a GREENPEACE technology to fight climate change.

In Astrakhan Oblast, this unique natural area of the Volga and the Caspian Sea delta has traditionally been the focus of the Company’s attention in terms of environmental issues. In 2011 a project of the Zarechye Socio-Cultural Center titled “Help Mother Nature” helped create ecological squads for children and teens, the “Blue Patrol” and the “Emergency Patrol.” Rural kids with their own hands set free sturgeon fingerlings in the running water.

To celebrate OAO LUKOIL’s 20th anniversary, a special category was established titled “LUKOIL to the Benefit of Perm Krai.” Eleven participants became winners in the category. For example, the Bardymsk Regional Museum aims to develop new tourist routes in the region. Routes include sights and events that have emerged due to the Social and Cultural Projects Contest and social investment. Another winning project was aimed at holding the “Govorlivskoye Gulbische” Inter-Municipal Festival, which gave a new impetus to the development of handicrafts, applied arts and the revival of ethnic culture.

To implement projects in different regions volunteers for social and cultural projects are sought. For example, the youth of Kaliningrad and its Oblast are actively engaged in the project for preservation of Curonian Spit National Park. Public events are organized devoted to rehabilitation and cleaning of the nature reserve. For a number of years Perm Krai has been implementing a project involving more than 300 adolescents to rehabilitate and clean the areas in the Chernushinsk District. Quite often environmental projects also help address the issues of education and social adaptation of handicapped people. Thus, for instance, for the second consecutive year the Company’s grants have been helping the Association of Handicapped People called “Apparel” familiarize physically challenged youth with the nature of the Curonian Spit. As a result of project activities 80 adolescents were able to visit the spit. They shared their impressions with a large number of students, while five educational establishments of Kaliningrad Oblast (that have physically challenged students) established partnerships with the nature reserve’s administration.

Grant applicants pay great attention to the creation of favorable conditions for physically challenged people. Thus, in Nizhniy Novgorod Oblast local television made a TV series for the children with hearing disorders. In addition to that, a project was implemented for the social rehabilitation of children that suffer from severe vision impairment, which involved the use of computer-based technologies. Within the framework of another project entitled “World on the Fingertips,” volunteers made books and puppets for the theater that stages performances for visually impaired kids. As part of the project “Learn History with Your Hands” a study room with an interactive display of stylized archaeological excavations was created in Kaliningrad Oblast to work with blind and visually impaired children, a series of lessons was delivered on the history of their native land, and new workbooks were developed for their teachers.

For the past few years the All-Russian Society of the Deaf has been using the Company’s grants in Kaliningrad and Volgograd Oblasts to implement a project for the social adaptation of hard-of-hearing people into everyday life through sports and physical training. As part of the project they were able to train and support promising handicapped athletes to ensure they can participate in various world championships and Paralympics.

Great contributions towards a higher quality of life for the disabled is being made by the Perm project entitled “Life of Equal Opportunities.” It aims to create a free environment for handicapped people. Grant funds were utilized to manufacture special ramps, handrails and railings that are a great help for handicapped people.

The winner of the 2011 Astrakhan Contest, Astrakhan Regional Office of Russia’s Special Olympics, has provided the framework for children and adolescents with disabilities to participate in the All-Russian Special Olympics titled “Special Olympics, Unusual Sports for Children with Disabilities.”

The Contest encourages the development of civil initiatives and involvement of citizens in the decision-making process. For example, before 2002 there were very few public organizations in Perm Krai, and now there are about 500. Thanks to the grants, thousands of jobs are created in the regions, and new large-scale projects have been initiated that acquire the status of independent regional and inter-regional projects. The brightest examples of those are the festival of historical towns of Kama nations, Kama festival of honey “Savior of the Honey Feast Day”, interregional festivals “Selenitic Box” and “Yelovskaya Rybka”.

In the Komi Republic and the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, the 2011 Contest was devoted to the Company’s 20th and the Komi Republic’s 90th anniversary. A whole range of creative projects, in nearly all categories, were devoted to the development of the indigenous culture of the North, information resources (movies, info networks, books) and festivals: “Riot of Colors of the North”, “Iz’vatas Space”, “Autumn is Wedding Time”, the Komi Republic in the “Talking” Book for the Blind”, and “Cultural Heritage of Pizhemskoye Old Believers”.

In 2011, a project by the Kaliningrad Regional Public Culture Fund was devoted to the topic “Amber in the City's History”, and was timed to coincide with the 510th anniversary of the famous “Succini Historia” publication by Andreas Aurifaber in Koenigsberg, one of the first well-known and widely cited informational reports on the properties of the Baltic amber.

In 2011 six winning projects of the special “Science and Technology” category were dedicated to the 50th anniversary of Russian space exploration. Thanks to one of them in the Krasnovishersk District, a flight and technical club was created, where teenagers could learn to fly gliders. The Usolsk District project made it possible to put up a memorial on the site of the "Voskhod-2" spacecraft landing with cosmonauts Leonov and Belyaev.  2011 Top Projects hosted an air show as part of the “Free Sky” III Interregional Festival and presented a circular cycling track with artificial hills to the Solikamsk District.

Many winning projects are dedicated to youth problems and tackle the challenges of social adaptation. At its time of great interest was the project implemented by the Parachuting Federation of Nizhniy Novgorod Oblast. The project helped foster home residents make their first parachute jump. In a number of regions youth camps are organized, including international ones, newspapers are published and press centers for the youth are created. Projects are very often focused on informational enlightenment. In the Komi Republic an informational and local history center was created in the library in the town of Pokachi, Tyumen Oblast. There is a radio broadcasting studio, where the young people develop their first skills of scripting radio shows and being on air. In 2010 such opportunity was also provided to the inhabitants of the village of Gorshki, Perm Krai, where a school-based TV studio was created, job auditions were held (for operator, video editor, newsperson, and director), and every week they broadcast short TV spots in the form of a video magazine, and a school cinema festival is held.

In addition to regional initiatives, the Contest also helps implement larger-scale projects. In Nizhniy Novgorod Oblast those are represented by the festival “Students’ Boldino Autumn” and a journalist’s festival “Living Word”. In 2010, for the first time some of the participants of the contest were foster home residents, for whom a special education and entertainment program was organized. Each Contest winner from the foster home received a certificate for free education in the “Praktika” Center to study television journalism.

The Contest participants pay great attention to the issue of socialization of the growing generation, and, in particular, to unprivileged young people. Children’s centers and theaters are created in the regions. Thus, the grant funds helped open a youth center in Perm Krai, which united more than 70 gifted children from the Chernushinsk district. The project entitled “Pozhva, Land of Young Gifted People” helped put together a group of 1st-2nd grade pupils to implement a program of arts education.

Great attention is also paid to the legal education of pupils and students: the prevention of violations by adolescents, and better awareness of the road traffic culture. In 2010, the educational program “Children and Road” was implemented in Perm Krai. Within its framework a children’s playground was created with traffic lights replicas and a pavement that prevents children’s injuries on the road, in the form of a game.

The project “Green Light Road” is being implemented in Nizhniy Novgorod Oblast funded by LUKOIL’s grants, gathering many participants as it progresses. The project is aimed at creating public awareness of the road safety, encouraging vehicle owners and pedestrians to behave responsibly while on the road, and at reducing the number of traffic accidents. The general idea of the projects is: “Better safety in general depends on the behavior of each person!”. As part of the project a plan for active interaction was implemented between authorities, business and non-profit organizations. The project was approved by the Administration of the Authorized Representative of the Russian President in Volga Federal Okrug, and by the Legislative Assembly of Nizhniy Novgorod Oblast. Over the course of the project several TV series were recorded about the rights and responsibilities of senior grade pupils, and colorful comics for kids and teenagers dedicated to administrative and criminal infringements were released. Traffic rules in comics works well to provide a better understanding by the children. In addition, a series of measures were taken to make Nizhniy Novgorod drivers to be more responsible on the road during school holidays. Volunteers from the Main Internal Affairs Directorate and the State Inspectorate for Safety of Road Traffic handed out little ribbons with the text “I am a conscientious driver” to motorists at gas stations. As part of the same project, information boards dedicated to road safety are to be installed in a few schools.

In October 2010, a presentation of the first episode of animated series for children called “Little Traffic Light’s Academy” dedicated to traffic rules was held in kindergarten No. 224 of Nizhniy Novgorod. During the project in Nizhniy Novgorod Oblast more than 30,000 coloring books titled “Little Traffic Light’s Academy” were published; the Nizhniy Novgorod Theatre of Puppets staged a performance called "Life Is Impossible without Traffic Rules"; and social advertisements were placed in passenger transport and on outdoor displays. In addition, Nizhniy Novgorod schools and kindergartens will be provided with a CD of the animated series titled “Little Traffic Light’s Academy” as a teaching aid for teachers at primary school and kindergarten. The final stage of the program will be the opening of a children's playground allowing them to learn traffic rules in one of the children’s camps in Nizhniy Novgorod Oblast. 

2011 contest projects in the Astrakhan Oblast and Kalmykia Republic were devoted to the urgent issues of family and childhood. Thus, the contest winners were projects titled “Many Kids are Great” (help to large families, healthy value system awareness, rehabilitation of the large family institution), and “Do Good”, a health-improving treatment complex for teenagers diagnosed with ICP. Legal support of youth and adolescents were important issues for the contest participants.

In general, grants awarded during the Contest period helped improve the social climate of the regions. They now have the right environment for developing their creativity, artistic and athletic skills. Since the Contest has been launched, we are seeing the active revival of trades of small nations and craftsmen workrooms. Infrastructure for new ski runs was constructed in West Siberia, while in towns and villages of Perm Krai we can now see more than 30 new sports facilities: open playgrounds and mini-complexes, family sports clubs for children and their parents. The projects help involve thousands of new people in sports and physical training (at least 3,000 in Perm Krai).  

The projects result in measures aimed at the development of sports among the youth and children. For instance, for a few years now the Museum of World Ocean in Kaliningrad Oblast, supported by the Specialized Youth School of the Olympic Reserve for Water Sports, has been promoting children’s yachting. The project has resulted in a higher level of water sports competitions and exhibition runs of young sportsmen. Following the results, a summary photo exhibition was prepared. In their report project organizers emphasized that the project not only helped them ensure the events of the city water festival were held at the top level, but also helped support the youngest yachtsmen who otherwise would not be able to participate.

Over the past years the Social and Cultural Projects Contest became unique ground for the development of social initiatives. According to independent experts, the Contest allows the organizers to efficiently distribute the allocated funds. In addition, it also brings in some motivation by encouraging bottom-up initiatives from the direct funds recipients.  This facility allows the people involved in projects to develop and set goals for themselves, to systematically move towards the achievement of their goals with OAO LUKOIL’s informational and financial assistance. The Contest mechanism is definitely a worthy idea to be replicated in federal programs, since it pursues similar principles: commitment to successful results and efficient private-public partnerships.