Events of the reporting period

Viru Keemia Grupp and Kiviõli Keemiatööstus have started a joint project to use existing shale oil production technology to convert plastic waste, which has become unusable elsewhere, into oil and gas. The industrial pilot plant could be ready in five years at the earliest and, following the principles of the circular economy, could help solve the ever growing problem of plastic waste.

From 1 February, the Hazard Hunt campaign started, dedicated to noticing, caring and recording hazards. The campaign ran until 22 April and 410 hazardous situations were recorded, of which 14% were records of dangerous behaviour.

For many years, we have been supporting the good initiative of „Bring you child to work!“ of the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which invites employers, parents and schools to work together to create opportunities for children and young people to learn about work life.

On 18 March, VKG Oil and the Rescue Board held a joint fire drill to test the readiness of the company’s emergency response plan (ERP) and to practice the actions of employees in the event of a major accident. It was also intended to test the flow of information, the functioning of the chain of command and cooperation between the various parties involved.

Safety and Health Month. We believe that safe behaviour starts with personal choices and safety is the result of those choices.

Starting from May, we became a member of the Estonian Forest and Wood Industries Association.

On 6 May, public discussions of the terms of reference for and the intent of development of the designated spatial plan of VKG’s bioproducts production complex and the strategic environmental assessment were held in Kiviõli and Püssi.

On 16 May, an important cooperation agreement was signed, which will result in the construction of a modern training centre for Elektrivõrgud. The parties to the cooperation agreement are VKG’s subsidiary VKG Elektrivõrgud, Elektrilevi and Elering, and the aim is to build a training centre in the rural municipality of Kiili by the academic year of 2023/2024.

On 19 May, another recognition ceremony for outstanding students was held, during which the TalTech Development Fund scholarships were awarded. VKG’s scholarships were awarded to three students in the spring scholarship competition.

On 24 May, Estonian mine rescuers celebrated their 75th anniversary of service. There is also a mine rescue crew at the Ojamaa mine.

On the last day of May, the Responsible Business Forum recognised companies that care about the environment and want to contribute more to society than the law requires. The RBF recognised Viru Keemia Grupp with the Responsible Entrepreneurship Bronze Award!

On 28 May, we celebrated the Chemists’ Day with a spectacular public party. Popular sports competitions, interesting workshops and favourite artists like Swingers, Nublu and GameBoy Tetris attracted thousands of people from Eastern Estonia.

On 15 June, a public discussion of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) programme was held at the Maidla community hall, where EIA experts from Maves OÜ gave an overview of the plan of environmental analyses necessary for the mine expansion and all interested parties were able to ask clarifications and make proposals for the programme. During the public presentation of the programme, the assessment of the climate impact of the activities and the clarification of the impact on the Aidu quarry were raised in particular.

The restructuring of the group will separate the regulated businesses from the oil shale industry. The legal restructuring of the group has started, as a result of which the subsidiaries VKG Elektrivõrgud and VKG Soojus, which today are part of VKG, will be separated into independent businesses. When the change comes into force, VKG Elektrivõrgud and VKG Soojus will operate respectively under the new parent companies Kirde Elekter AS and Kirde Soojus AS. The shareholder structure of the companies will not change as a result of the division.

Recognition of the TalTech Virumaa College graduates!

The Group-wide conscious safety training „I Choose“. By changing the way we think about safety, we improve the working environment and make it safer! It’s important to understand and acknowledge the importance of your own personal attitude and behaviour in shaping safety culture.

We held our traditional school bell party for the 22nd year in a row in 2022. This year, 64 children from our family of employees set off to discover the world of knowledge.

An amendment to the Uus-Kiviõli mining permit allowing VKG to extract 5 million tonnes of geological reserves under certain conditions.

The Miners’ Day, newly renamed as ViruFest, is not just a tribute to the best workers and a concert programme, but also includes sports, entertainment, children’s activities and more.

The traditional VKG Environmental Day took place. Organised by Viru Keemia Grupp, the Environmental Day brought together scientists, environmental experts, policy makers and politicians to discuss the possibilities of refining one of Estonia’s largest natural resources – wood.

The joy of working together – for the fifth year in a row, we organised World Clean Up Day activities, this time also involving the city’s schools.

The Group signed an agreement with Gren AS for the sale of the network company VKG Soojus.

The second „Learn and Work” campaign was launched. It is a learning programme driven primarily by the need to ensure the necessary next generation of employees for our production units.

The „I Choose” safety training programme was completed, with 1,300 Group employees participating.

A major reconstruction of Petroter I was completed. The whole project, from the conclusion of contracts for the manufacture and supply of the main components to the start-up of the plant, took just under two years. The investment amounted to more than 24 million euros.

A traditional job shadowing day took place, where students had the opportunity to discover world of work, learning about the tasks and challenges of professionals in their field.

A founder and major shareholder of Viru Keemia Grupp, Priit Piilmann, passed away.

VKG and the Chemical Workers’ Union signed a new collective agreement for the period of 2023–2024.

Once again, we opted for charity. We continued our good tradition and instead of hundreds of corporate gifts, we made a donation to the paediatric department of the Ida-Viru Central Hospital.

In order to cope with high energy prices, VKG decided to pay an exceptional Christmas bonus of five hundred euros to all the Group’s employees.

The 58th Five Schools Competition was held at Tamme Upper Secondary School in Tartu and the Ida-Viru team also participated. In the regional preliminary round, Jõhvi Upper Secondary School showed the strongest result and its students represented the region at the main competition.

A commitment and satisfaction survey was conducted among all the employees with the aim to understand what is the most important thing about work for the employees of VKG – what are the employees satisfied with, what requires more attention, and what should be changed.

VKG’s Partners Day was held, which included a roundtable and a tour of the production territory together with the officials of the Environmental Board and the Ministry of Climate.

Another ‘Bring your child to work!’ day was held, in the course of which the children of VKG’s employees were introduced to the company’s IT world and were told about cyber security and safety. The day peaked with an excursion to the Petroter III plant.

A festive handing-over of diplomas to new specialists – who also included graduates from the first ‘Study and Work’ group – took place at the Ida-Viru Vocational Education Centre.

The Group’s safety policy was approved. The policy covers all the basic safety principles with which all the Group’s employees must comply regardless of their position. The main aim of the safety policy is to ensure a safe working environment without break-downs and accidents. Ensuring a safe and healthy working environments for employees is of primary importance, as thanks to this the desired objectives are achieved in all the areas of activity.

The Group’s brilliant team took part of the youth career trade show ‘A Key to the Future’, introducing career opportunities at the Group, from chemical engineers to cyber security specialists, to young people.

According to established tradition, April was the month of safety and health at the Group. The main topic last year was a positive work safety culture which can only be created together and in cooperation. The month included a number of information seminars, a panel discussion and, for the first time, a safety game which offered the participants a lot of emotions and useful knowledge.

In close partnership with Jõhvi Upper Secondary School, we continue conducting the STEM elective subjects programme. We are investing our time in organising the STEM course, as we wish to show young people that there are vital and innovative enterprises in their home region, where youngsters thinking about acquiring a qualification in engineering can do seriously big and important things.

LET’S DO IT 2023! Together with the Eastman team and the teachers and students of Kohtla-Järve, we organised a large-scale volunteer work day with the aim of making the urban space of Kohtla-Järve more beautiful and cleaner.

VKG’s Supervisory Board appointed Raivo Attikas as a new Management Board Member and Technical Director of the Group.

In connection with the Member of the Management Board of Viru RMT, Andry Pärnpuu, moving to the position of a Member of the Management Board of VKG Energia, Ivo Järvala became the new Management Board Member of the subsidiary, while also continuing to manage VKG Elektrivõrgud.

The popular favourite event, the Days of Chemists, was held, with activities and entertainment for every age and taste. The programme of the day was full of surprises, exciting sports competitions and cool performers.

A change was made in the structure of the Ojamaa Mine: the activity of the mine was divided into three areas – a production area, a technical and asset management area, and an area focused on the development of Uus-Kiviõli. The main aim of the production area is to ensure the smooth functioning of deliveries between VKG Oil and VKG Kaevandused, and the quality of oil shale. The expectations to the technical area are primarily related to ensuring the reliability of the equipment fleet as well as improving the efficiency indicators of production equipment. The main task of the area engaged in the development of Uus-Kiviõli is the opening of the mine by the planned term. A former member of the Management Board of VKG Logistika, Ervin Küttis, joined the team of the Ojamaa Mine to manage the technical and asset management area.

The strategic environmental impact assessment of and the preparation of a designated spatial plan for the bioproducts production complex (BPC) is taking place in the village of Aa in the rural municipality of Lüganuse, scheduled to the completed at the end of 2024. On 29 June 2023, the Council of the rural municipality of Lüganuse approved the report on the first stage of the designated spatial plan and made the preliminary selection of the location for the assessment of environmental impact. The designated spatial plan process has advanced exactly as scheduled and without setbacks. In the preceding months, we met with the residents of the region and given an overview of the progress of the project.

The rural municipality of Lüganuse gave a green light to the second stage of the bioproducts production project. At the beginning of June, the report on the first stage of the preliminary selection of the location for the designated spatial plan and the strategic environmental impact assessment of our bioproducts production complex (BPC) project was completed.

Tarmo Vadi joined the team of Viru Keemia Grupp, replacing the former member of the Management Board of VKG Logistika, Ervin Küttis, who has in turn moved on to act as a member of the Management Board of VKG Kaevandused, where he is responsible for managing the technical and asset management area.

On 28 July, the international Handcar Rally started from Kohtla-Järve. The main aim of the race is to promote safe railway traffic.

A festive day for first class students was held – a tradition that is over 20 years old – to enjoy the last summer days among the family and prepare for school.

The grand festivities of the Miners’ Day brought all the friends of mining to ViruFest. According to tradition, the day to recognise the profession of miners is held on the last Sunday of August and includes the honorary miners’ award ceremony.

The Environmental Day organised by Viru Keemia Grupp was held at the Arvo Pärt Centre. The event included discussions about the Estonian Climate Act to be developed in the near future, as well as about the main topics of the climate policy. The representatives of areas and stakeholder group most influenced by the green reform took part.

The electrode coke equipment was shut down due to the market situation. The former sales volumes had significantly decreased by that time, as the sales of electrode coke was largely linked to the Ukrainian market.

A change took place in the management of VKG Oil – long-term Management Board Member Priit Pärn left the position. VKG Oil’s Financial Director Aleksei Holomejev became the other member of the Management Board besides Nikolai Petrovitš.

In gratitude for long-term cooperation with the Blood Centre, the VKG Group was given its own blood group: #VKG_viru_keemia_grupp.

The leading Baltic private capital fund BaltCap acquired a 100% holding in the second largest Estonian power distribution enterprise VKG Elektrivõrgud. BaltCap sees considerable potential in the further development of the network enterprise in the area of providing additional services related to electricity and the network besides electricity network services and the sales of electricity. The sales transaction was concluded and the enterprise moved from the structure of the Group in January 2024.

The fourth drawing contest for children and young people, ‘A New Era for Balley and Industry’, was held in the framework of the 15th Jõhvi Balley Festival which VKG has been supporting for years.

Preparations for the Uus-Kiviõli Mine reached a new stage, as an aboveground inclined shaft and two tunnels were completed. We started the renovation of the conveyor belt between the Ojamaa Mine and the Kohtla-Järve production territory, which will in the future be partly also used for transporting the oil shale mined at Uus-Kiviõli to oil shale plants.