The Minister of Science, Technological Development, and Innovation in the Government of the Republic of Serbia, Jelena Begović PhD, visited the NIS Science and Technology Centre (NTC) in Novi Sad today. Mr Kirill Tyurdenev, CEO of NIS, and Mr Leonid Stulov, Director of the Science and Technology Centre, on this occasion, introduced Ms Begović to the basic directions of NTC activities, which, among other things, provides scientific and technological support in all phases of oil and gas exploration and production and conducts digitization and development of innovations in all business segments of the company.
Ms Begović is also familiar with the key projects of the Centre, plans on the development of IT infrastructure and the application of new information technologies, as well as with NIS investments in the educational system. Minister Begović also visited the laboratory for receiving geological samples, which operates within the NTC. On this occasion, Ms Begović also met young NIS scholars who, after completing their education, began to build their professional path at the NTC.
Ms Jelena Begović PhD, the Minister of Science, Technological Development, and Innovation in the Government of the Republic of Serbia, emphasized the importance of investing in science and education and cited NIS as a good example of such practice.
“Today, I had the opportunity to visit the NIS Science and Technology Centre. Every time I come to an R&D centre of a company, we see that this is the future of Serbia. This is another example of why science is important and why it is important to invest in education. Because even with products like petroleum products, a huge number of people are investing their minds and talents in something that we will one day use. NIS invests in people, and it does it continuously. Not only do students get a great opportunity to go to school and start working here, but NIS continues to invest so that they could have the opportunity to further educate while working and to attend doctoral studies and postdoctoral studies. It’s the only way for a company to grow – by enabling its people to grow. And this is also a way for our country to develop, to have as many companies as possible that can enable smart people to work and thus develop together,” said Ms Jelena Begović PhD.
Mr Kirill Tjurdenjev, CEO of NIS, stated that only knowledge leads us forward.
“That is why we have recruited more than 100 young experts at the Science and Technology Centre in recent years. At the same time, we have invested almost two billion RSD in modern equipment and digitization of the Centre. For us, the essence of science is not in projects and processes, but in people. We are proud of our young engineers whose knowledge contributes to the implementation of research processes at different levels. We will continue to make these investments in the future. Only in this way can we achieve our goal – long-term development of NIS and strengthening the expertise of our employees, but also the entire community,” said Mr Tyurdenev.
For years, NIS has been providing scholarships to talented students within the “Energy of Knowledge” programme, which, among other things, aims to invest in the development of highly educated employees for the needs of the company. As a company that continuously invests in the development of the education system in Serbia, NIS cooperates intensively with numerous domestic and foreign educational and scientific institutions, while significant investments are also focused on the development of NTC, which is the backbone of the technological and scientific development of NIS.
The NIS Science and Technology Centre (NTC) is a scientific research company and a subsidiary of NIS. It is recognized as an innovation centre of NIS, which is focused on the development and application of new scientific and technological achievements, as well as the introduction of innovative technologies in the oil, gas, and energy sectors. Key resources of NTC include more than 50 years of work experience as well as nearly 400 qualified and experienced experts of various profiles. Currently, NTC has more than 60 state-of-the-art pieces of software, as well as two state-of-the-art laboratories with almost 300 certified testing methods, while in its work it also relies on cooperation with numerous domestic and international educational institutions, including domestic universities in Belgrade, Novi Sad, and Niš, as well as Heriot-Watt University based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The Centre also cooperates with international companies such as Schlumberger, Halliburton, and Paradigm.
