FUGRO IS MEASURED TO EXPAND THE PRESENCE AT THE CASPIAN REGION

Caspian Energy: Mr. Middelkoop, please be so kind to tell about FUGRO company, its establishment and work in Azerbaijan?

General manager “Fugro survey ltd.”, Jan F. Middelkoop: Fugro collects and interprets data related to the earth’s surface and the soil and rocks beneath. On the basis of this the Company provides advice, generally for purposes related to the oil and gas industry, the mining industry and the construction industry, including infrastructure projects.

Fugro operates around the world at sea, on land and from the air, using professional, highly specialised staff supported by advanced technologies and systems, many of which have been developed in-house. The equipment Fugro uses to carry out its work includes over thirty vessels, several hundred CPT (Cone Penetration Test) and drilling units and approximately forty aeroplanes and helicopters as well as some sixty ROVs (Remotely Operated Vehicles).

Fugro’s objective is to hold a leading market position due to its technological developments and quality. This requires a strong international or regional market presence.

Fugro was founded in 1962, has been listed on Euronext N.V. in Amsterdam since 1992 and has been included in the Amsterdam Midkap Index since March 2002. Fugro has approximately 8,500 staff permanently stationed in over 50 countries.

Fugro has been active in the Caspian Sea area since 1993. We supply our survey services to all the major offshore operators in the area.

C.E.: What targets, achievements and faced difficulties does the company have after coming to Azerbaijan?

Jan Middelkoop: The target for Fugro is to maintain a large share in the Caspian offshore survey market. With an ever growing local content we are currently achieving this. The main difficulty is the availability of well trained local offshore survey personnel. We hope to solve this with our continuous training programs.

C.E.: What does attract you in our country, what achievements have you had within the period of working in Azerbaijan? Was not it difficult to start working here?

Jan Middelkoop: The attraction of Azerbaijan are the pleasant climate(s) and open business climate. With the help of our local employees we have established a local profit generating business unit.

Due to the very pleasant mentality of the Azeri people it was relatively easy to start working in Azerbaijan,

C.E.: How do works implemented in Azerbaijan differ from those of in Brasil for instance?

Jan Middelkoop: The local content of projects implemented in Azerbaijan is higher.

C.E.: Do you have competitors at the Azerbaijan market, is not it difficult to compete with them?

Jan Middelkoop: Yes we have several, local and foreign, competent competitors at the Azeri market. By offering the latest technologies and our highly trained staff we are able to compete with them.

C.E.: What is the company’s primary principle: highly-skilled personnel or use of advanced technologies? Do you agree that personnel “solves everything”?

Jan Middelkoop: Both. No, personnel need continuous training on advanced technologies and an excellent safe and healthy work environment to enable them to perform to our high standard.

C.E.: What plans does the company have for the near future?

Jan Middelkoop: To develop our business from Azerbaijan into Russia, Kazakhstan, Iran and Turkmenistan.