Painting benches, cleaning banks of water areas, painting rooms or cutting trees and bushes are a few of the activities undertaken by the ORLEN Unipetrol Group’s employees during this year’s Volunteer Days. They worked over 1,300 hours in eight non-profit organisations. They helped in Litvínov, Prague, Neratovice, Kralupy nad Vltavou, Veltrusy, Pardubice, and Brno. Both the Group’s employees and some municipal representatives joined the volunteering work. With nearly 5,000 employees, the ORLEN Unipetrol Group is one of the largest companies in the Czech Republic. Therefore, it focuses its CSR activities on the locations where it operates its production plants and trade agencies. ORLEN Unipetrol has held the Volunteer Days regularly since 2012. They provide employees with an opportunity to work directly in the field.
„The Volunteer Days have had a long tradition at the ORLEN Unipetrol Group. Each year, we help non-profit organisations with which we’ve been cooperating for many years and that are active in the locations where the ORLEN Unipetrol Group operates. Employees’ interest has grown by 30 per cent compared to 2021 to 180 people. Therefore, I would like to use this opportunity to thank them for their engagement in volunteering. It was yet another time when we could jointly help where necessary and show that the ORLEN Unipetrol Group is a caring and responsible neighbour,” said Katarzyna Woś, Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors of the ORLEN Unipetrol Group. She also joined the Czech Fishing Union this year to help clean the water surfaces around Chempark Záluží together with other members of the Board of Directors.
This year’s Volunteer Days started in the Kociánka centre in Brno. It provides educational support to children and adults with disabilities. First, the ORLEN Unipetrol employees painted benches and hippotherapy enclosures and helped clean the centre’s park. Then, they helped at Rybka Neratovice, an organisation rendering social services, to adapt the greenery and tend the garden. On the same day, other volunteers went to the non-profit organisation Borůvka in Prague to maintain and paint stands. This organisation also helps people with disabilities.
The Volunteer Days continued with two projects in Litvínov. The first group of the ORLEN Unipetrol Group employees painted rooms in the Naděje nursing home. Afterwards, they painted garden houses and were also involved in cleaning the garden. The Volunteer Day was also attended by Kamila Bláhová, the mayor of the town of Litvínov: “I really appreciate the work of all volunteers coming to the nursing home today. I am pleased that I can thank them personally for their engagement. It is a pleasure that together, we can help those who need it most.” The other volunteer group helped the Czech Fishing Union clean the banks of water surfaces near Chempark Záluží.
The ORLEN Unipetrol volunteers also traditionally gave a helping hand in the Early Care Centre in Pardubice. It supports families with children with severe disabilities. The volunteers painted rails, painted and installed corner protection laths in the entrance corridor, and were also involved in making didactic aids.
The first volunteer group ended the Volunteer Day series in the children’s home in Kralupy nad Vltavou and helped paint the staircase premises. They were personally supported by the mayor, Marek Czechmann, who thanked everyone for their work done. The other volunteer group also helped in the Veltrusdy Castle park. They cut sprout shoots, tidied up branches, and repaired the park’s fences.
The ORLEN Unipetrol Group is committed to corporate social responsibility as one of its priorities when building its sustainable business plan. ORLEN Unipetrol approaches its activities ethically and responsibly. That is why it implemented international standards also in corporate social responsibility (CSR). Furthermore, the Group seeks to ensure its permanent development and foster its relations with local communities in education, social issues, and the environment. The Group’s total CSR expenses amounted to CZK 19.36 million in 2022.
The ORLEN Unipetrol Group is the largest refining and petrochemical company in the Czech Republic. It focuses on crude oil processing and the production, distribution and sale of vehicle fuels and petrochemical products – particularly plastics and fertilisers. It belongs among the critical players in the Czech and Central European markets in all these areas. The ORLEN Unipetrol Group encompasses refineries and production plants in Litvínov and Kralupy nad Vltavou, Paramo, with its Mogul brand in Pardubice and Kolín, Spolana Neratovice, and two research centres in Litvínov and Brno. Unipetrol also includes a network of Benzina ORLEN filling stations in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. With 426 filling stations, Benzina ORLEN is the largest chain in the Czech Republic. Since its entry in 2019 to Slovakia, Benzina ORLEN has been one of the fastest-growing chains and currently has 23 stations in its network. ORLEN Unipetrol employs almost 5,000 people and is one of the largest companies in the Czech Republic. In 2005, ORLEN Unipetrol became a member of the ORLEN Group, the largest crude oil processor in Central Europe. The ORLEN Unipetrol is also active in corporate social responsibility. Therefore, it pays equal attention to initiatives that cultivate and support sustainable development, education, local communities, and the environment.