HR Policy / GRI 3-3 /

Attracting and retaining qualified and talented professionals is one of the priorities required for successful business.

KPO strives to ensure competitive labour market conditions among oil companies in Kazakhstan, to attract high-potential candidates and to reduce the risk of staff turnover. Another important factor for the KPO attractiveness as an employer is due performance of undertaken commitments and respect for the employees’ labour rights.

At KPO, we offer equal opportunities to everyone and treat everyone equally and do not discriminate in any way based on race, colour, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, disability, ethnic origin or nationality. This approach allows the Company to form a strong team consisting of highly qualified specialists.

The company bases its personnel decisions on objective factors, including qualifications, professional merits, work results and business qualities of employees. This concerns all aspects of work activity, such as hiring, certification, career growth, training and development, disciplinary measures, wages and employment termination. The approach of KPO to increase of local content in staff involves both replacing expatriate personnel with national staff and implementation of the local staff professional training and development. This helps ensuring that all operations are carried out competently, with high quality and in compliance with international standards. Such approach contributes to the replacement of foreign personnel with minimum risks for production activities, and the achievement of the set goals with the highest quality. To this end, KPO develops the Annual Training Plan, which is implemented taking into account the individual needs of each employee. Provision of training programmes allows the Company:

• to fulfil the requirements of the FPSA Annex 7 related to the training, re-training and professional development for Kazakhstani employees consistent with International Good Oil Field Practices, as well as HSE and industrial hygiene requirements;
• to deliver programmes that сontribute to the increase of local content in staff and to supply the organization with skilled, qualified and competent workforce;
• to undertake training activities in order to achieve operational targets;
• to deliver specific and mandatory HSE certified training programmes for the Company’s personnel, required by RoK legislation, the Company’s internal procedures and best international practices.

Diversity and inclusiveness / GRI 3-3, 405-1 /

Developing an inclusive culture, respecting and valuing the contribution of each employee, regardless of gender, age, nationality and other factors, is important for the Company’s success.

The KPO team is multinational. We have residents from all regions of Kazakhstan, although vast majority of the employees come from the West Kazakhstan region constituting 81 % of the total workforce. Expatriates from different countries of the world make up about 5 % of the entire team.

Women make up 26 % of the total workforce. The predominance of men among the staff is due to the characteristics of oil & gas sector with primarily work on site, where gender imbalance is traditionally observed, especially in technical positions.

Management promotes equal opportunities for all employees, regardless of gender. Women constitute 18 % among managerial positions (personnel categories 1-2). KPO strives for gender balance and diversity in the Company’s leadership.

An analysis of the age composition shows that the largest group of employees is aged 31 to 50 (67 %). It is important to consider the presence of young employees (9 %) for bringing in new ideas, as well as experienced senior employees (24 %), who bring wisdom and extensive experience. This diverse age composition contributes to an innovative and dynamic work process. Developing an inclusive culture, respecting and valuing the contribution of every age group, is important for the Company’s success.

At KPO we also have employees with limited abilities. We provide them with individual support, including hybrid working schedule, to ensure more favourable working conditions enabling them to contribute to the overall success of the Company. Safety is paramount in the oil and gas industry, and therefore, heightened requirements for health suitability are imposed. Colleagues with disabilities mainly occupy office positions.

During the 2024, the Company held various events that allow employees to give feedback to management and to HR department. These include the KPO Townhall, the annual Employee Opinion Survey, the HR Open Day, and through the Hotline available 24/7 hours. Additionally, feedback is collected in the process of personal engagement with line managers and occasional coffee break meetings with directors. Once feedback is analysed, HR department publishes answers to the most pressing questions on the Intranet, and looks for solutions to optimize the identified problems.

Overall, KPO strives to make inclusion a core aspect of its corporate culture. We continue developing inclusive mindset across the Company, emphasizing the unique skills of each individual employee. This topic is also covered in the mandatory annual training for employees on the company’s Code of Conduct.

KPO Female Network / SDG 5 /

The KPO Women’s Club is a platform where women can share knowledge, provide mutual support and strengthen their connections.

The mission of the KPO Women’s Club is to promote the vision ‘Women Support Women’. The goal of the Club is to create and maintain a safe and friendly working environment where every woman can unleash her potential and reach any career heights.

As an ESG-oriented company, KPO is committed to a gender-balanced human resource. In this regard, the Women’s Club supports ideas aimed at empowering women in the oil and gas industry and further promoting them to leadership roles.

During the six years of the Club’s operation since 2019, the Company held a number of events to involve female employees in discussions on multiple hot topics.

In 2023, the KPO Female Club held six sessions which were conducted both off- and online such as to include as many people as possible of those wishing to attend. The topics discussed at the club meetings throughout the year covered mental and physical health, caring for people and inclusion, coaching and mentoring in the Company, developing a female career in a male team, and a woman’s contribution to corporate values. Additionally, speakers from other organizations were invited, including men, which allowed for maximum diversity in the topics and sessions’ atmosphere. We believe that such meetings are very useful and help our female employees be more resourceful and effective both at work and in life.

The atmosphere created in the Women’s Club helps women maintain a balance between career and family, get a boost of inspiration, strengthen motivation for personal growth, and increase social activity.

PERSONNEL STATISTICS

As of end 2024, the total number of KPO personnel made up 4,080 people with 3,873 of them being RoK citizens and 207 other countries’ citizens.

The graph 7 shows the ratio of personnel, taking into account the specifics of labour relations, to the total headcount of the Company at the end of the reporting period, broken down by years.

As of end 2024, the number of permanent employees was 3,993 people, of them 1,016 women and 2,977 men. The number of temporary employees totalled 87, of them 55 women and 32 men. KPO offers only full-time job. / GRI 2-7, 405-1(b) /

Graph 8 shows the ratio of personnel by gender. In 2024, 3,009 men and 1,071 women worked at KPO. / GRI 2-7 /

The map shows the distribution of the Company’s personnel in the regions of Kazakhstan. At the end of 2024, the Company had two offices in Uralsk.

Graph 9 shows the turnover of KPO and sending parties employees in 2024 broken down by age groups regardless of the type of contract. / GRI 401-1 /

In 2024, 22 men retired upon reaching 63 years of age, and 5 women upon reaching 61 years of age in accordance with the legislative norms of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Starting 2017, the Company supports the application of the Voluntary Dissolution of Employment Relationship Programme as part of the actual Collective Agreement and pursuant to the RoK Labour Code dated 2017 (Art. 52). The terms of this Program provide for monetary compensation, which is calculated according to the program criteria. The programme applies to men aged 58-63 and women aged 56-61.

Graph 10 shows the turnover of KPO and sending parties employees in 2024 broken down by gender. In 2024, the new employees hired in KPO made up 5.2 % of the average number of employees, in comparison to 2023 – 5.9 %. The dropout made up 5.4 %.

The turnover made 5.4 % in 2024 versus 5.3 % in 2023 (see Graph 12). / GRI 401-1 /

Formula of calculation of a turnover rate has been changed compared to 2022 data and includes a number of employees resigned on a voluntary basis, those who retired and those who were dismissed under disciplinary penalties in the reporting period.

KPO respects the right of its employees to retain their positions. Following the RoK Labour Code, an employee has the right for an unpaid leave to attend to a child up to the age of three years. In the 2024 reporting year, 105 % of employees, who took parental leave, returned to work in the reporting period, with a 71 % retention rate. The return to work rate is high, as in 2024, female employees who took parental leave for more than one year returned to work. / SDG 5.4 /

Graph 12 shows the number of employees, who took a parental leave and a leave to attend to a child up to the three years age, and of those, who returned to work after parental leave ended, by gender, in 2024. Also, pregnant women working at the field are usually transferred to work in the city.

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS / GRI 2-19, 2-20, 2-21, SDG 8.1, 8.5 /

Success of any business largely depends on qualification, skills and motivation of employees, therefore KPO’s HR policy is aimed at strengthening the leading position in the market and achieving strategic goals through creation and development of a professional team, as well as encouragement of efficient performance of work.

In order to ensure the employee right of remuneration as per qualification, complexity of work, quantity and quality of work performed, as well as working conditions, KPO applies the following tools:

• The remuneration system based on a consistent approach in setting wages;
• The job evaluation process system for effective organizational structure management, as well as to ensure the validity of remuneration;
• Annual Performance and Development Review Procedure;
• Wide range of additional benefits ensuring fair work conditions.

To arrange and apply all the listed tools KPO Reward and Organization department has the KPO Remuneration, Allowances and Benefits Policy for Kazakhstani Employees. The provisions of the Collective Agreement are taken into account in the Policy. This Policy is annually approved by Joint Operating Committee (JOC)⁷. There is no voting during the Policy approval. Shall one of the parties does not agree with any provision of the Policy, the document is vetoed and being returned for further revision.

According to Art. 5 of Appendix 7 of the FPSA, the Policy is focused on commensurability and competitiveness of remuneration, allowances and benefits for national staff in comparison with appropriate remuneration, allowances and benefits of Kazakhstan oil and gas sector and used as a tool for attraction, retention and encouragement of national staff.

The assurance of the remuneration process is ascertained by KPO internal audit and Parent Companies’ audit⁸ evaluated as satisfactory in 2022.

According to the Remuneration Policy for Kazakhstani Employees, a base salary for national staff is established on the basis of the assigned personal grade, which in turn has special range. Grade is used to identify relative importance of a certain job position and its levels at the Company’s positions hierarchy. Grades are assigned to all employees including top management.

KPO top management except Deputy General Director and Digitalization and Continuous Improvement Manager are secondees from the KPO Parent companies. Their remuneration is set and paid by the Parent Companies. The Сompany applies a unified approach to establishing the fixed and variable parts of remuneration for all employees who have an employment contract with KPO, including directors, and uses a unified grade structure of remuneration for all its employees, which is the basis for determining wages. / GRI 2-19, 2-21 /

During 2024, the company hired new employees from among graduates of the special technical training program without experience in the oil and gas industry. Given that work at the field involves working in difficult conditions, where the use of physical force is required, the participants in such training are mainly men. Given the lack of experience, the salary offered to them is lower than that of existing more experienced workers. Also during the year, due to reaching retirement age and participating in the voluntary termination of employment program, experienced male workers who had high salaries left the company. This led to a decrease in the overall average salary of men in this category.

KPO also takes into account the remuneration rate at the RoK oil and gas market and performs annual review, as a result the necessity to correct the remuneration rate for the certain positions can be applied.

Annually KPO participates in the Oil and Gas Sector Salary Survey conducted by Willis Towers Watson. The review conducted in 2023 has shown that the average salary at KPO was higher than an average salary in the West Kazakhstan Oblast. In 2024, actions were taken to retain highly skilled technical personnel critical to ensuring efficient production. The minimum salary of specialists recruited by KPO is provided in the Collective Agreement and set regardless of an employee’s gender.

Salary for KPO employees as well as for sending parties’ employees (from recruitment agencies) is set based on the single labour remuneration system applied in KPO that highlights no difference in the level of minimum salary for both categories of employees. / GRI 202-1 /

Pursuant to the existing procedures, every year KPO offers an upgrade on the employees’ remuneration, including indexation of the monthly basic salary not lower than official inflation rate in the RoK at the beginning of the year, annual performance bonus for those, who received positive ratings, and also individual pay rises and additional lump sum payments. In January 2024, a general wage increase of 9.8 % was implemented, reflecting the inflation rate of the previous year.

All KPO direct employees are provided with a package of benefits, which includes monetary and non-monetary benefits. The most of the benefits are provided for by the Collective Agreement. In December 2024, a new collective agreement was signed, which will be valid from 2025 to 2027. Under the terms of the Collective Agreement for 2022–2024, KPO pays bonuses on Oil & Gas Worker’s Day, end of year bonus, FPSA anniversary as well as financial allowance for health resumption. Benefit amount also depends on individual employee grade. For the sending parties’ employees (from recruitment agencies), the relevant employers’ collective agreements are applied. / GRI 2-30, 401-2 /

In accordance with the Collective agreement KPO grants to employees the right for paid educational leave (14 days per year) to pass examinations at the external study mode. In 2024, 25 employees exercised this right. / GRI 404-1 /

Performance and Development Review and quarterly bonus / GRI 2-19, 3-3, 404-3 /

Performance and Development Review (PDR) is one of the tools of feedback aimed at monitoring and enhancing work efficiency.

Сurrently the PDR process covers only those Kazakhstani employees, who occupy positions of line managers and specialists. The unchanged condition is that an employee has to have been employed at KPO for no less than half-year. Everyone who was due for assessment in 2024 was assessed.

Early in the year, line managers inform subordinates about their expectations to work performance, behaviour and HSE compliance along with annual targets. The targets are recorded in a specially designed form, communicated to employees, and their implementation is monitored throughout the year. Targets are focused on fulfilment of the Company commitments and gradual development and performance improvement.

For employees holding managerial positions, whose goals are identified as Key Performance Indicators, assessment is taken in two stages: assessment of achievements in line with KPIs for this position and assessment of individual work performance.

The unified rating scale applied for PDR process includes “Strong”, “Fully Effective” and “Needs Improvement”.

Since 2023, Kazakhstani personnel who are auxiliary and support technical personnel, whose work does not imply the achievement of annual goals, subject to their compliance with the Company’s requirements for health, safety and environmental protection and relevant acts of the employer based on the results of the annual assessment of work performance, receive quarterly bonuses instead of an annual bonus.

Starting from 2023, the size of the PDR bonus has been fixed in the “Rules for assessing personnel’s work performance and development.”

DEVELOPMENT OF NATIONAL PERSONNEL / GRI 405-1, 3-3 /

Development of national personnel is a continuous process in KPO. Professional competency is maintained and developed through the training and skill improvement system.

KPO conducts its activities in line with the Programme for Increasing of Local Content in Staff for 2020–2025 authorised by the Authority.

In 2024, five positions previously held by expatriate personnel were nationalised, and two positions were abolished. As of December 2024, local employees made up 95 % of the total Company’s staff. In total, in the period of 1999–2024 274 expatriate specialists were replaced with national employees, and 305 positions held by expatriate employees were abolished. The breakdown by categories is presented in table 21. / GRI 3-3 /

Graph 14 presents the total number of expatriate and local senior and mid-level management at KPO split by age and gender. This includes KPO core structure and temporary projects.

Enhanced Development Programme / GRI 404-2 /

In order to ensure the continuity of workforce planning and increase local content in staff, KPO implements the Enhanced Development Programme.

The programme is an integral part of the process of creating a talent pool, which guarantees consistent

manpower planning and the implementation of the Nationalization and Succession Planning Programs.

The process is focused on succession planning, selection of talented employees, assessment to reveal their strengths and weaknesses, development and implementation of individual development plans, and as a result appointing them to targeted positions.

The first, second and third intakes of the Program were held in the period from 2009 to 2020. In the second half of 2021, KPO launched the fourth intake of the Enhanced Development Program for the period of 2021–2024. Based on the plan to increase local content in staff, departments’ management nominated high-potential employees for further participation in the selection process.

Of the 79 candidates, 52 employees successfully passed the fourth intake of the Enhanced Development Program.

In the period of 2022 – 2024 the training and development of the program participants was implemented in accordance with their Enhanced Development Plans.

During the IV Intake, as part of the Enhanced Development Program a number of leadership events and forums were conducted in order to deploy new tools and successfully apply the obtained knowledge at work. As well as, during the defined period the program participants worked closely with a team of internal coaches in the role of a coachee (client) in the format of individual coaching sessions and developed their managerial competencies.

By the end of fourth intake, 51 % of the participants have occupied the planned positions.

In December, 2024 Talent Development and Secondment Administration department announced the launch of V Intake of Enhanced Development Program for 2025–2027 for National Staff. EDP V Intake will be linked directly to Succession Planning program.

Competence Management System / GRI 3-3 /

Competence management system is applied at KPO as one of the most efficient methods for assessing the competency level of personnel.

The system is aimed at achieving and maintaining the required level of competency among technical staff, who work at hazardous industrial facilities, and at reducing and preventing potential incidents and accidents caused by lack of competency. Given the results of conducted competency assessments, the system enables developing tools for further training of personnel and ensuring funds are spent as intended, meanwhile contributing to raising HSE cultural awareness.

As per the Competency Management System (CMS) Policy, any contractor with a high or middle risk level of the contract that work on Company sites or equipment shall develop and operate its own Competency Management System. The contractors’ personnel, responsible for the control and execution of high-risk works, shall have the ability to demonstrate knowledge and practical skills to work safely, technically sound and within the defined boundaries of responsibility. From 2019, the key requirements and rollout stages of such a system are identified during the HSE contractors’ audits.

KPO CMS was certified by Offshore Petroleum Industry Training Organization (OPITO) in 2013. Every three years, the Company undergoes accreditation of the system requiring that compliance audits be conducted annually engaging the OPITO experts. In November 2023, KPO confirmed the competency management system accreditation till November 2024.

The scope of OPITO’s accreditation includes:

• Five profession-oriented specialties: production operators, electrical technicians, instrument technicians, mechanical technicians, lead technicians and supervisors in production sector.
• Six production units and departments, including KPC, Unit 3, Unit 2, Eco Centre, Maintenance and Gathering departments.

In 2024, 921 employees with technical qualification completed initial assessment and received CMS certificates. KPO has reached 77 % of the competency compliance required for technical personnel.

In line with the Competency Management System Expansion Plan 2022–2024, in the fourth quarter of 2022, the program for guaranteeing the competence of Group Leaders in industry (KPC, Unit-3, Unit-2, Maintenance and Gathering Departments, Eco center, Chemical Laboratory and the Department for Modification of Field Facilities), which began in 2018, was completed. Also in 2023, the initial assessment for all Engineers and Leading Engineers of the Maintenance Department was completed.

Competency Assessment under 36 approved standards is carried out for over 220 supervisors and engineers. In order to obtain unbiased assessment results, superintendents take on the role of technical experts. Detailed information on the Competency Assessment for industrial supervisors, engineers and workers is provided monthly to the management of the Field and Production Directorate.

According to the KPO 365 strategy, in 2024, work began on the implementation of the project: “Digitalization of competency assessments” – the process of using the corporate LMS system to assess the knowledge of newly hired technical personnel was initiated. Also in the process of implementation – assessment of the competence of KPO personnel using a mobile device (Ex-Tablet). The uniqueness of the mobile application “MOBILE ASSESSMENT” is that it will be fully synchronized with our existing system (CMS). Assessment of personnel competence using the Ex-Tablet (MOBILE ASSESSMENT) will significantly reduce the time of assessment, optimize costs, reporting, etc.

Within the framework of the competence management system, the Talent Development and Secondment Administration department has a system of the technical and behavioural assessment of personnel. In 2024, over 268 technical and behavioral competency assessments were conducted, based on the results of which 104 individual feedback sessions were provided for employees and their line managers. Technical competencies describe the specific knowledge and skills that are required for certain positions. 360-degree assessment describes personal and managerial competencies that help identify strengths and areas for development.

Based on the assessment results, feedback sessions are conducted and individual development plans are developed. In 2024, 291 individual development plans were created for employees through the SAP system.

PERSONNEL TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT / SDG 4 /

Personnel training / GRI 404-2 /

Annually, KPO offers a variety of training programs designed to achieve key objectives:

• To enhance the individual job-related competencies of employees, and address operational and career development needs.
• To teach mandatory skills required to perform the job at hazardous production facilities, in accordance with RoK legislation and company procedures.

In 2024, 98 % of the Company’s local employees participated in professional development programs, encompassing professional training, retraining, and engagement in online seminars and conferences.

Besides, in 2024, KPO continued to provide training for сompany employees on the specialized international programmes (see table 22), language skills, and professional and mandatory HSE courses.

Training statistics / GRI 404-1, 403-5 /

As responsible organization, KPO ensures annual mandatory HSE training for both its own staff and personnel of its contractor organizations.

In 2024, 631,691 hours of training (649,922 hours in 2023) were held, of which 457,549 were provided to KPO employees (388,487 in 2022), including general education awareness courses on cybersecurity and civil defence topics. The remaining 174,142 hours (261,436 hours in 2023) were dedicated to HSE mandatory courses for the contractor organizations’ employees.

In total, in 2024 22,151 people were trained, 3,986 of them – KPO employees and 18,165– contractor personnel. The average training hours are given in graph 15.

Training arranged for KPO employees in 2024 by categories is shown in Table 23

KPO SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMMES AND PARTNERSHIP WITH UNIVERSITIES / SDG 4.3, GRI 404-2 /

KPO aims to elevate its employees’ qualifications and attract emerging talent by fostering collaboration with universities.

KPO Scholarship Programme is one of the constituent incentives for professional development and further education of employees and their children.

In 2024, within this programme KPO allocated 42 KZT mln (equivalent to US$ 87,500) to sponsor scholarships for 15 KPO employees and 27 children of employees.

KPO partnership with Kazakhstani universities

KPO cooperates with 34 educational institutions in Kazakhstan, playing a vital role in developing professional personnel for the oil and gas industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Internship in the international company offer students a real-world work environment and introduce them to international business practices. By combining theoretical training with practical experience at the company, students gain the necessary competencies for professional activities and are better prepared for their careers. In addition, student placement allows students to make informed decisions about their future career paths.

KPO’s partnership with universities is facilitated through the Student Placement Programme on the basis of bilateral agreements.

In 2024, 215 students from 22 educational institutions had practical and pre-graduate internship for 44 specialities in various departments of the Company. From 2014 to 2024, the Company has employed 242 people out of those, who successfully completed the student placement programme.

Scholarship via KAZENERGY Association

According to the FPSA, KPO annually allocates USD 500 thousand for scholarship for young people under the Memorandum of Cooperation signed on September 29, 2015 between the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan, PSA LLP, KPO B.V., NCOC N.V. and the KAZENERGY Association.

Each academic year as per the Protocol of the Committee for selection of candidates for the payment of education from the allocated funds, KPO concludes agreements with the educational institutions and arrange payments for education of students who had passed competitive selection.

In 2024, KPO signed agreements for scholarship of 137 students from different universities of Kazakhstan.

Graduates Development Programme / GRI 404-2, SDG 4.3, 4.4 /

The key objective of the Graduates Develop​ment Programs is a fulfillment of basic manpower needs with adequately qualified young people in order to ensure the safe operation of core departments / critical job functions.

Professional Development Programme for production operators and maintenance technicians, introduced in KPO since 2008 and based on the international standard of the Offshore Petroleum Industry Training Organization (ОPIТО). The program is a crucial component of the KPO talent pipeline, essential for sustaining the success of Production Operations.

The successful candidates undertake internationally recognised training with both academic and practical development. If successful on the programme, the trainees take positions as technicians in the production units and start their careers with a very solid technical and vocational background.

The value of this training programme lies in the methodology provided in a module format. This approach allows developing a set of competencies, which focus on the ability to address production issues in workplace.

At the time of issuing this report, the Graduates Development Programme had been successfully implemented at KPO for 17 years. Over 584 production operators and maintenance technicians have been trained under this programme and currently productively work at the Company’s production facilities.

38 trainees from Intake 2022–2023 were hired into the Field department during 2024.

In August 2024, 47 students of the 2023 Intake have completed the theoretical part of their training in the specialties of Mechanical Technicians and Production Operator and were assigned to on-the-job training at the production facilities.

On 30^th of September 2024, KPO has completed the selection process of the next intake of students for participation in this programme in the specialties of Production Operator and Electrical and Instrument Technicians. Based on the selection results, 47 recent graduates of higher and secondary specialized educational institutions of the Republic of Kazakhstan, had started the theoretical part of training from 10 months up to 12 months. Following this, the trainees will be assigned to on-the-job training at the production facilities.