It was my first trip to the Uralsk region ever. I traveled more in Europe than in Kazakhstan, so when I received a proposal from the Client to conduct live training for the Contract Management team of #KPO, I decided -why not?

It was not the first training I have provided to them, but a number of the previous courses were conducted online. The trip from Schiphol Amsterdam, with the long lines, and several changes in the itinerary, was a story by itself. So, once I arrived in Kazakhstan’s capital, no direct tickets were left from Nursultan to Uralsk. The solution was to travel first to Atyrau, to Uralsk, then take a car and drive 138 km to Aksai, where KPO is located.

When I travel to Nursultan, I am always amazed by the country’s changes. 

The new buildings, modern theatres, and highly dynamic lifestyle of people are just a few things to mention. When I finally stretched my legs out of the car in Aksai, I had to hold my breath. I came back to my youth, even my childhood. Almost everything is like 30 years ago. Five floors Khrushchev provincial houses, lack of rush on the streets.. and lack of urban development. “Kazakhstan is not Nursultan only,” I realized at that moment.

In the practical course #”Negotiation of the oil and gas contracts.” we had many communication games, reviewed best practice examples in the oil and gas and IT industries, simulated negotiations with challenging conflicts, and figured out the style of the negotiations we have. We analyzed what kind of maneuvers, strategies, and tactics we have in our portfolios as experts. 

KPO’s team of contract professionals are very well educated and experts in their fields; most know their contracts by heart. Yet, we still managed to see what could be done to improve interaction with the suppliers and what are the tools to obtain more in value for the Company’s interests. 

I have received very warm, very positive feedback and have been booked for September. This time most likely will do it online