From the beginning Surgutneftegas has been led by president and director general Vladimir Bogdanov, who had run the Surgut oil fields since 1983.

The company also gained permission to build an export terminal in the Batareynaya Bay of the Gulf of Finland and a pipeline between it and the Kirishi oil refinery.

[citation needed] Surgutneftegas was widely believed to be behind Baikalfinansgrup which acquired YUKOS' main oil production facility Yuganskneftegaz at a controversial auction in 2004.

[8] The company also developed its foreign contacts, including talks with Iran, Libya and pre-war Iraq on taking part in oil extraction projects.

[citation needed] In 1980 the plant was reconstructed and started diesel hydrotreating unit with capacity of two million tonnes per year.