Press releases
On the signing of the Memorandum of Cooperation on Road Safety between the Akimat of the West Kazakhstan Oblast, Shell Kazakhstan, Agip Karachaganak B.V. and Eastern Alliance for Safe and Sustainable Transport (EASST)
Memorandum of Cooperation was signed between the West Kazakhstan Oblast Akimat, Shell Kazakhstan, Agip Karachaganak B.V. and the Eastern Alliance for Safe and Sustainable Transport (EASST) on March 5, 2019 in Uralsk. The purpose of the event is to study the road safety situation in the region and to further implement a number of initiatives to improve the road conditions and road safety.
The Memorandum was signed by Mr. Altai Kulginov, West Kazakhstan Oblast Akim, Mr. Olivier Lazare, Vice President and Country Chair of Shell Kazakhstan, Mr. Luca Vignati, Regional Executive Vice President of Eni and Mr. Serghei Diaconu, Director for Central Asia of Eastern Alliance for Safe and Sustainable Transport.
The number of road traffic accident victims in the Oblast is of concern to both the regional authorities and the community. In this regard, the WKO Akimat announces the year of 2019 as the Year of Road Safety and intends to achieve a steady reduction in the number of road traffic accidents and victims on the regional roads. To implement such large-scale programme, the Akimat in partnership with international investors, Shell and Eni, which are the co-operators of the Karachaganak Oil and Gas Condensate Field, have initiated the signing of this memorandum. The scope of the programme includes capacity building activities for road traffic police, school teachers, trainings for transport fleet managers, activities to improve pedestrian and driver behaviors on roads as well as infrastructural assessments and advice. Advisory support during the implementation of road safety initiatives will be provided by the experts of Eastern Alliance for Safe and Sustainable Transport (EASST).
WKO Akim said: «I highly appreciate this cooperation. The MoU signed today, first of all, is aimed at implementation of initiatives to enhance road safety.”
Shell and Eni consider safety as one of the most important pillars of their sustainable operations and promote improvement of the behaviours of drivers and pedestrians by uniting the efforts of all interested parties to achieve the common goal. Partners intend to further deepen its strategic alliance with the Republic of Kazakhstan and with the WKO Akimat, in particular.
Serghei Diaconu, EASST Director for Central Asia, said: “EASST fully supports the initiative of the WKO Akimat, Shell and Eni to declare the 2019 as a Year for Road Safety in West Kazakhstan. We believe the signing of the Memorandum will facilitate the joint efforts of local authorities, private sector and other stakeholders to improve road safety. Every life is priceless, and only the joint effort can make an impact. I am sure everyone will benefit from the project as we are all road users”.