Fundamentally, this effort revolves around recognising, respecting, and appreciating our unique differences. It transcends mere tolerance, delving into a profound understanding of each individual and an exploration of the factors that set us apart. Inclusive societies cultivate a profound sense of meaningful belonging, fostering support and value for individuals—integral elements crucial for the success of our organisational structure at Nostrum. We take pride in cultivating a diverse and inclusive workforce, providing a home for individuals from various backgrounds.

Undoubtedly, our people constitute the cornerstone of our success. Actively engaging with individuals possessing diverse assessments and perceptions leads to superior decision-making, increased innovation, and a more profound commitment in the workplace.

This is why we dedicate special attention to the ongoing enhancement of diversity and inclusion within our Company.

At the end of 2023, Nostrum’s workforce stood at 571 employees, with 78% being male and 22% female (2022: 78% male and 22% female employees). The Company remains steadfast in its commitment to establish key performance indicators (KPIs) for its HR department, specifically focusing on advancing diversity across all levels of the organisation. Particularly in the domain of diversity metrics, we aim to distinguish ourselves by increasing female representation across various tiers.

Nostrum has consistently upheld a corporate Equality and Diversity Policy for several years, underscoring our unwavering dedication to these principles. At the end of 2023, 21% of Group employees based in Kazakhstan were female, a figure that remains consistent with 2022. Furthermore, in the UK, 67% of employees were female (2022: 50%).

We take pride in our unwavering commitment to cultivating a workplace that celebrates diversity and fosters inclusiveness. Our core belief is anchored in recognising and appreciating the unique contributions of every team member, irrespective of their background or identity.

Acknowledging the continuous need for progress, the Board continues to prioritise diversity in upcoming appointments, with a specific focus on ensuring robust representation of Kazakh nationals in senior roles. Presently, 29% of department heads are female (2022: 32%). As at 2023 year-end, our Senior Management Team comprises 27% females, marking an increase from the 20% recorded in 2022.

We are targeting to further increase female representation at the senior management and at the department head level as possible. We actively advocate for female promotions in cases of parity in competencies and capacities. However, swift progress is impeded by the shortage of qualified female candidates willing to work in field-based roles, where a majority of our positions are situated, involving rotational shifts. And whilst we are encouraged by our diversity at Board level, we do recognise that diversity remains an ongoing issue in the oil and gas industry, particularly with regard to gender diversity.

Our Human Resources department actively promoted internal growth and worked to develop a diverse workforce at all levels of our organisation. In 2023, 25% of Group recruitment was female, a substantial increase from the 7.27% recorded in 2022. In 2023, five employees took parental leave and eight employees returned from parental leave, all females.

The Company prioritises diversity in terms of nationalities, maintaining a diverse management team with representation from six different nationalities. Among the eleven members of the Senior Management Team, five are Kazakh nationals as at 31 December 2023. Additionally, there were no reported incidents of discrimination raised by any Group employees in 2023.

We believe diversity and inclusion are essential components to our business strategy. The company acknowledges that a diverse and inclusive workplace fosters better decision-making, stimulates innovation, and ultimately enhances business performance. We are committed to fostering an environment where every employee can thrive and achieve their full potential. We recognise that diversity goes beyond nationalities and encompasses a wide range of backgrounds, experiences, perspectives, and identities.

This year once again, we have endeavoured to enhance and progress in our promotion of diversity and inclusion within our organisation. Several initiatives have been improved, and others have been implemented.

Among them, a program aimed at addressing the under representation of certain disadvantaged groups, the “Targeted Recruitment Program” has been created. This initiative focuses on attracting and hiring individuals from diverse backgrounds, such as women, minorities, and individuals with disabilities.

To reach that goal, concrete measures have been put in place, like discussing with external organisations and networks for collaboration to broaden our talent pool and ensure equal opportunities for all, as well as training our HR team to conduct inclusive recruitment interview and write an inclusive job advert.

We have developed the Company’s Inclusive Buddy Program, designed to establish a framework that facilitates the integration of new hires through mentoring experiences. Our aim is to foster a welcoming, friendly, and respectful work environment for all members.

We have established comprehensive D&I training programs aimed at raising awareness and providing knowledge on various topics, including equity and equality, stereotypes and biases, discrimination and prejudice, sexism and disability in the workplace, culture, and microaggressions. By embracing this approach, the organisation seeks to create a workplace where every employee feels valued and respected, fostering a collaborative and innovative atmosphere. This, in turn, will enhance employee engagement and satisfaction, ultimately contributing to long-term growth and success.

We have proposed the institution of a zero-tolerance approach to discrimination, harassment, and bullying, indicating that any documented incidents of harassment, discrimination, bullying, or victimisation will be treated seriously and could potentially lead to disciplinary action, including dismissal, with or without notice. This policy is currently under review and pending final validation.

Through our endeavours, we have observed a significant rise in the interest regarding diversity within our workforce, evidenced by an increased number of employees actively participating in our surveys and e-learnings and engaging in discussions with the Human Resources Department.

Moving ahead, we are dedicated to boosting diversity and inclusion in our organisation. For 2024, we plan to hold monthly onsite training sessions led by a dedicated coach three times a month as part of our D&I program. Our focus will be on creating mentoring programs linked to our Targeted Recruitment initiative to offer guidance, networking opportunities and professional growth to underrepresented groups.

We will closely monitor the Buddy Program and its implementation to ensure seamless integration of new hires, while also gathering feedback from employees and their assigned buddies. Additionally, we plan to create a user-friendly and comprehensive on-boarding manual to assist new team members during their first days.

Furthermore, we plan to establish employee affinity groups, diversity councils, and networking groups to support underrepresented members of our
workforce. These initiatives will offer networking, mentoring, and career development opportunities, thus cultivating an inclusive environment that promotes a sense of belonging for all individuals within our organisation.

Regarding anti-discrimination measures, the Nostrum Code of Conduct  afeguards all employees and contractors from unlawful discrimination based on aspects such as ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, socio-economic background, age, gender, educational and professional backgrounds.

Nostrum prides itself on being an integral community partner and one of the largest employers in western Kazakhstan, with 98% of Group employees hired locally and 92% of all employees being RoK nationals. As at 31 December 2023, Nostrum had a total of 571 employees from 12 countries.

We offer all staff members competitive benefits and remuneration packages in compliance with all regulatory, guidelines and requirements, which (to the extent applicable) are also applied to those hired as temporary or part-time employees.

In an effort to promote gender equality, we continued to monitor gender pay discrepancies. Emphasis has been placed on supporting female advancement, resulting in promoting seven females for their competences. In 2023, we continued to conduct our own gender pay discrepancy review with a grouping of employees based on their job function, seniority, location and other factors. As a result of this analysis, the following observations were drawn:

1. Roles with higher pay are maledominated (C-suite)
2. We have seen that the gender pay gap has further narrowed in 2023 as compared to 2022, the average employee salary in Kazakhstan was 2.6% higher for males (2022: 3.3 % higher for males) and the median employee salary in Kazakhstan was 5.3% higher for females (2022: 1.4% higher for females). At certain levels female pay exceeds their male counterparts (Office), while in the Field the remuneration is higher for males than females.

Despite short-term variations, our commitment remains steadfast towards fair and balanced recruitment and promotion practices along with consistent skills evaluation. We aim to increase the presence of women in senior roles and areas of our businesses where they are currently under-represented, with the long-term goal of eliminating the gender pay gap. The Board will continue to monitor any gender pay discrepancy by defining targets and activities to address any inequalities discovered.

The Company has implemented Succession Planning Policy that aims to identify future staffing needs and employees with the skills and potential to be developed for carrying out future management roles.

Investing in the development of our people is crucial for fostering economic selfsufficiency within the local communities where we operate. Under the terms of the PSA, we are required to spend 1% of our annual Chinarevskoye field development costs towards education and training.

In 2023, 500 employees benefited from education and training programmes (2022: 507 employees). Our total Group training costs in 2023 were US$0.6m (2022: US$0.4m) and the total number of training days in 2023 was 5,702 days (2022: 6,961 days).

In 2023, Nostrum supported numerous educational programs, including MBA in Global Banking & Finance, ESG reporting: GRI Standards-Oil and Gas course, Document control foundation course, Oil Field Management Production Performance and Forecasting Analysis course, Mayekawa equipment. Module-unit based on a screw compressor course, Installation and programming of Danfoss frequency converters, Internal auditor of an integrated management system according to ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015, ISO 45001:2018, root cause analysis for incident investigation (TapRoot Why Tree, 5 Why) course training was undertaken by operational and head office teams, department heads, specialist engineers and other technicians at different levels across the organisation.

HSE training (including fire safety) is carried out at least annually in accordance with our operating practices and as required by the PSA.

As part of the Company’s costs optimisation plan, in 2023, 48 employees (of which 36 males and 12 females) were released or agreed to voluntarily resign, and their positions were not filled (2022: 48 employees). This was the main cause of staff turnover. The number and percentage of new employees hired in 2023 was 52 or 9.1% (of which 13 were females and 39 were males).

In 2018, the Company put collective agreements in place to provide for workforce representation. In 2023, Chris Hopkinson was appointed as the Company’s non-executive director designated with the task of obtaining the views of the Company’s workforce and feeding these into the Board’s decision making processes. In November 2023, Chris Hopkinson met with members of the workforce in Kazakhstan and obtained feedback regarding various matters of importance to the workforce.

The Board of Directors strives to adopt best practices in corporate governance, including engagement with the Group’s workforce. In particular, the Board wishes to understand the views of the Group’s workforce and to take such views into consideration in Board discussions and decision-making. Communication between the workforce and the Board is often referred to as the “employee voice”, and it is hoped that a wide selection of views from the workforce can be gathered through a range of formal and informal channels.

Such channels are intended to help the workforce share ideas and concerns with senior management and the Board. This communication provides useful feedback about business practices from those delivering them and can help empower colleagues. The Board encourages individuals to raise any concerns they may have. Doing so acts as an early warning system for actual or potential problems and helps to manage risk. The Board actively listens to workforce concerns and subsequently provides feedback on how the matter raised has been considered, including any action taken. The Board emphasised that the workforce should feel safe to raise concerns.

Nostrum is committed to maintaining a Group-wide culture that recognises international standards of human rights.

Throughout 2023, the Group had a Human Rights Policy which reflects the desire to comply with industry best practice and the HR department has raised its awareness on the numerous benefits and interests that our Human Rights Policy provide to our organisation.

First and foremost, a Human Rights Policy demonstrates our commitment to upholding fundamental principles of human dignity, respect, and equality. By establishing a framework that promotes fair treatment of employees, stakeholders, and communities, we can enhance our position as a responsible and ethical business that contributes positively to the social and economic development of the regions where we operate.

In addition to these ethical considerations, there are practical benefits. By promoting diversity, inclusion, and non-discrimination, we can attract and retain a more diverse and talented workforce. Furthermore, a Human Rights Policy can help to mitigate legal, financial, and reputational risks associated with human rights violations. Moreover, a Human Rights Policy can also enhance our relationships with key stakeholders, including customers, investors, regulators, and civil society organisations. By engaging in transparent and constructive dialogue about human rights issues, we can build trust, and credibility.

The Human Rights Policy is in addition to the Nostrum Code of Conduct (Code), which defines the principles that guide business conduct and provides a nonexhaustive outline of what Nostrum considers permissible conduct by its employees. These principles include provisions relating to human rights and diversity in the workplace, insider dealing and insider information.

There are no divisions of the Group (or its vendors) believed to have significant risk of child/forced labour/hazardous work performance by young employees.

Under the Group’s standard supply contracts, the Group is entitled to require suppliers to demonstrate compliance with the Code and to hold its suppliers responsible for compliance by their supply chain with equivalent terms.

A copy of our Modern Slavery and Transparency Statement is available on our website: www.nostrumoilandgas.com.

We have a Whistleblowing Policy which takes into account the Whistleblowing Arrangements Code of Practice issued by the British Standards Institute and Public Concern at Work, and which applies to all individuals working for the Group at all levels and grades.

The Whistleblowing Policy sets out details of two compliance liaison officers who speak a variety of languages for the purposes of reporting any concerns. The Whistleblowing Policy is also mentioned in the Code, and a person who reports any matter in good faith will be protected against any sanctions.

The updated version of the Whistleblowing Policy, revised in August 2023, is available on the Company’s website. At the time of writing, we have received no reports under our Whistleblowing Policy of forced/ involuntary labour or human trafficking in relation to our business or supply chains. For further details, please see our website: www.nostrumoilandgas.com.