Pavel Taranov: Even a minor contribution can change someone’s life

27 june 2025

Our June issue of the About People and Good Deeds column features SIBUR’s chief expert Pavel Taranov discussing his multi-year involvement in the blood donorship movement, sharing his experience of taking part in SIBUR’s corporate volunteering campaigns, and expounding on what drives him personally to help others.

Could you please tell us a little about yourself: what is it that you do at SIBUR, how long have been with the company?
I have been with the company since 2010. I started my career at ITSС, which provided maintenance and repair services for instrumentation and control equipment and automated process control systems. For the past nine years, I’ve been working at the Corporate Center in the Efficiency Management unit.

How did you find out about SIBUR’s volunteering People Changing the World program and what made you get involved?
Thanks to the regular internal communication updates I get from the Formula for Good Deeds team, I always stay well informed of new volunteering opportunities. One day I saw an email about an upcoming campaign, and that’s what got me started.

You received an award for being an active donor at SIBUR’s 5th Corporate Volunteering Forum. What does this recognition of your achievements mean to you?
I view this award as not just a recognition of my personal achievement, but rather an important testament to the value of donorship. It shows that your efforts don’t go unnoticed. It was especially symbolic to get this award at the Corporate Volunteering Forum. This confirms that SIBUR has been successful in forging an environment where such initiatives as donorship are encouraged and are a part of its corporate culture.

You have been a regular participant of Donor’s Days since 2018. What compels you to donate your blood year after year?
My main motivation is knowing that your blood can really save someone’s life or help them at a critical moment. It’s not some kind of abstract “benefit,” but rather real help to real people, here and now.

How do you prepare yourself for donating blood?
This isn’t something that requires special preparation. I normally switch to a lighter diet two or three days prior and try to get a good night’s sleep the night before. This is enough to make sure your body is ready.

What is your colleagues’ perception of Donor’s Days? Have you been able to get any of them onboard?
My colleagues are keenly interested, especially when they see a mobile blood donation station setting up camp outside the Corporate Center’s building. Many ask questions about the procedure and its nuances. I am confident that at least some of them will join the initiative on one of the upcoming Donor’s Days.

In addition to donating blood, you have been involved in the Get to Be a Santa Claus! and Back to School Soon campaigns. Why do you find it so important to help children?
Together with my wife we try to participate in all kinds of volunteering activities. In the case of the Get to Be a Santa Claus! and Back to School Soon campaigns, helping children often yields the most tangible and emotionally rewarding results. You see how the school supplies that you had helped collect make preparation for school easier, or how a New Year’s gift brings genuine joy to a child. This kind of direct emotional response fills you with energy and gives your actions special meaning. But supporting senior people or helping animals is equally important, and we try to participate in those initiatives, too.

Is there a particular case from your experience that is especially memorable?
Yes, one such case stands out. I remember logging on to our portal to pick a gift to donate as part of the Get to Be a Santa Claus! campaign only to discover that all the slots had already been taken. I felt mixed emotions: on the one hand, I felt surprised and slightly disappointed that I hadn’t acted quickly enough; but, on the other, I was also happy that my colleagues had responded so eagerly. Fortunately, the roster got updated later and I was offered a second chance to contribute.

In your opinion, what is the strength of corporate volunteering? What does it give to those who help, and to those who benefit from such help?
Its strength is in its systemic nature, grand scale, and the unique synergy that benefits everyone involved. Those who help derive satisfaction from knowing that they are helping others, making the world a better place, having a sense of belonging to something great and important. Those on the receiving end benefit from the support, attention, and the feeling that they’re not alone, that people remember about, and care, for them.

What does being a volunteer mean to you personally?
Being a volunteer means being able to invest my time, energy, and warmth into something greater than myself in a mindful way. You make an innermost choice to act without seeking gratitude or recognition because you know even a minor contribution can change someone’s life, support them at a difficult time, protect the environment, or advance an important cause. It’s about meaning, sense of belonging, and responsibility.

What qualities do you think people can develop by getting involved in volunteering activities?
Above all, these include empathy, the ability to hear and understand others, and respect for our differences.

What would your advice be to your colleagues who are just thinking about becoming a donor or a volunteer?
As in any endeavor, the key is to take that first step. If the thought to take part has entered your mind, this means that deep inside you are ready. Don’t put it off: start small, and very soon this will become a part of your life.

Do you have a dream or a volunteering concept that you would want to bring to fruition in the future?
I’m not sure whether it’s a dream or just an area I’d like to try myself at. In the future, I’d like to get involved in intellectual volunteering sharing my knowledge, experience, and helping others by applying my expertise.

To find out more about upcoming charitable activities, visit SIBUR’s volunteering groups on VKontakte and Telegram.