Russia’s Rosneft to cut 25% of salaries at central office: Kommersant

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Rosneft , Russia’s largest oil producer, will cut salaries at its central office by a quarter following a decision to reduce the working hours due to the fallout from the coronavirus, Kommersant daily reported on Friday.

The newspaper, citing unnamed sources, said the cuts will be implemented from Oct. 1 when the working hours will be reduced to six per day.

Rosneft said earlier this week that the working hours would not be reduced for those who are engaged in production, while 84% of its employees at the central office are still working from home as a measure to combat the virus.

The newspaper believes the measure to reduce salaries would allow the company to cut costs by between 4 billion roubles and 5 billion roubles per year ($54.7 million – $68.4 million).

Rosneft did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Russia reported 5,509 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Thursday, pushing its national tally to 834,499, the world’s fourth largest caseload.

(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)