Caspian Energy (CE): Mr.Isayev,  the Caspian  Pipe  Coatings  LLC is marking its 10th years jubilee this year. What achievements has this company gained over the past decade?

Azer N. Isayev, Executive Director, Caspian Pipe Coatings  LLC: First of all, let me inform you briefly about the history of the Caspian Pipe Coatings (CPC). The main reason for creation of a modern plant for pipe coating was the conclusion of the Contract of the Century. The conclusion of the Contract of the Century and the commencement of development of fields in the Azeri sector of the Caspian Sea necessitated provision of professional and reliable coating for main subsea and onshore pipelines and for environmental safety of the Caspian flora and fauna.  Moreover, it was taken into account that creation of such a plant in Baku will help attain a multifold reduction in the cost of the project implementation. Since the beginning of its operation, CPC has taken part in such projects as Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli, Shah Deniz, Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan, Kashagan, Chirag oil project. More than 2400 km of pipes of various diameter ranging between 14 and 42 inches were coated with anti-corrosive and concrete coating. Over the past decade CPC has proven its ability to implement international projects independently involving qualified and unique specialists.  Our employees are the only specialists in Azerbaijan in the sphere of anti-corrosive and concrete coating of pipes and I think that this is the main achievement of CPC.

CE: What are the requirements of your company to the quality of the implemented work?

Azer N. Isayev: CPC attaches great importance to the quality of the implemented work. High quality works are the integral part of the CPC’s policy. During the existence of CPC, we have taken part in many projects with various technical requirements. This helped us to study and create a comprehensive system capable to oversee the entire production cycle, including the control of quality of the received raw material, inspection of the pipe coating in case of any deformation, control at all production stages, control of the ready production 24 hours before and during load-out. During production, the Pipe Tracking System department oversees movement of each pipe through the production chain which allows withdrawing the pipe from production in case the quality of the implemented operations is unsatisfactory. Just like anything else in the world requires improvement, our system needs it as well. Thus, we periodically organize trainings for the employees of the quality control department, send them to trainings at the enterprises of our strategic partner EUPEC France. This all allowed our enterprise to pass ISO/OHSAS certification successfully. CPC has received the certificates of ISO 9001:2008,  ISO 14001:2004, and OHSAS 18001:2007.

CE: Just as you mentioned, the company employees are among the factors of CPC success. How does  CPC select employees and how do you assess the professionalism  of Azerbaijani specialists?

Azer N. Isayev: Over 220 specialists including 6-8 foreign engineers are involved in the implementation of the CPC’s projects. The main task of CPC’s staff policy is the creation of favorable conditions for the career promotion and professional development of local employees.  Along with the professional skills, we also appreciate such qualities as problem solving and decision making. We periodically organize special trainings for our specialists. Employees who have been working with us since the moment of the company’s creation in 2002, constitute the majority. Taking into account the fact that foreign specialists constituted major it of the CPC’s staff in 2002-2008, we can say for sure that we were able to create a skillful and united team of professionals consisting of local specialists.

CE:  How do you assess  the possible involvement in the projects of Caspian littoral states?

Azer N. Isayev: CPC is enterprise which has the ability to provide services for any project implemented in the Caspian region. We have a group for conducting marketing studies. We represent CPC at the exhibitions and conferences, take part in regional events every  year. This year CPC is to take part at the jubilee 20th ‘Caspian Oil&Gas’ International Exhibition and Conference.