Russian oil giant Lukoil has introduced a global planning system based on SAP software solutions, that includes planning and budgeting modules on all planning horizons, as well as tools for the assessment and co-ordination of investment projects. Lukoil hopes that the initiative will help it to improve corporate governance.

The planning system, which will also help the group to create its investment program, encompasses over 70 of Lukoil’s Russian and foreign plants operating on four continents. The system will allow 2,000 employees from the company and its subsidiaries to access a centralized information space.

The system provides for the co-ordination and approval of separate investment projects, investment programs and plant budgets. A unified databank on investment projects, approved plans and budgets will serve as the basis for further monitoring project implementation and analyzing the operations of its subsidiaries, the company said.

The system will increase the efficiency of the group’s investment projects portfolio, help to reduce the time scale for plan and budget preparation, and help to improve the quality of information used for top-level decision-making. The company said that it will also increase the transparency of its operations.

The project was implemented as a result of joint efforts from the company’s corporate center, industrial planning and economic departments, and its subsidiaries.