During the 70 years that it has existed it has undergone dynamic development and is now the feedstock base of Czech industry.
It has substantially influenced the development of the region and remains today the biggest employer in the North Bohemia industrial area.
Litvínov 19th May 2009- today Unipetrol RPA is celebrating the 70th anniversary of production in the Litvínov industrial area. The company has prepared an exhibition of period photographs as well as a short film showing its historical development especially for this occasion. Today’s meeting in Unipetrol RPA, at which the current position and importance of the company were among the topics discussed, was attended by notable local representatives.
The history of the Litvínov chemical factory started in 1939. On 5th May of that year construction of the first refinery was started on the selected site, part of the Záluží area. The first tons of synthetic petrol were dispatched three years later. The factory developed significantly in the post-war period and again in the 1970s and 1980s, with the introduction of related petrochemical production. The refinery and petrochemical operations have been continuously modernised over the last fifteen years. Currently it is one of the most modern in Europe and – as a part of the biggest Central-European company, the multinational PKN Orlen – one of the important players on the global market.
"The history of the area seems to mirror the history of Central Europe, with all the changes the region has undergone during the last 70 years. Its dynamic development, which has taken the production capacities to European importance today, is mostly due to the talents of the people who worked and still work here,”says Chairman of the Board and CEO of Unipetrol Krzysztof Urbanowicz.
Today there are several dozen companies operating in the area. The biggest production capacities – i.e. the refinery, which is a part of Česká rafinérská, and the related petrochemical facilities of Unipetrol RPA, are part of the Unipetrol Group. The Litvínov area is the Group’s most important site. Apart from the largest production capacities it is also the seat of Unipetrol Services, a company providing administrative and other services for all the other firms of the Group, as well as specialised companies such as Unipetrol Doprava and Petrotrans.
"The company has undergone notable development and now only a few buildings remain of the original factory. Unipetrol RPA, as the leading producer of petrochemical and agrochemical products, has its place among European and local producers. On the regional level it is one of the biggest employers in the region and the infrastructure of over 260 other entities is connected to it., ” explains Executive Director of Unipetrol RPA Radomír Věk.
Unipetrol has been one of the most prominent employers in the region for a long time. Unipetrol RPA directly employs approximately 2000 people today and another thousand work for other Group companies in the area.
Over the last twenty years companies of the Unipetrol Group have invested almost forty billion Czech crowns in modernising production capacities and new technologies. A lot of this investment, almost ten percent, was devoted to improving the natural environment. The Group also gives long-term support to sports, culture and education. This support is mostly directed to the regions where the Group’s production capacities are located. For example the Group traditionally supports ice hockey. At the moment this support is channelled through its subsidiary, Benzina, the general partner of HC Litvínov since last year.
"This long cooperation, dating from 1999, has made a significant contribution to the development of life in the city. The financial resources are traditionally directed to supporting social and cultural activities, sports and social life. We greatly appreciate our cooperation with the important employers in our region, including Unipetrol RPA,“ says Mayor of Most Vlastimil Vozka.
UNIPETROL, a.s. is a group of companies operating in the petrochemical industry in the Czech Republic. In 2005 UNIPETROL became a part of the PKN ORLEN Group, the largest oil processor in Central Europe. The UNIPETROL Group is oriented mostly towards oil processing, fuel distribution and petrochemical production. In all of these business areas the UNIPETROL Group is among the key players both in the Czech Republic and on the Central European market. The Group ranks among the leading firms in the Czech Republic in terms of its revenues, and employs more than 4,000 people.
UNIPETROL RPA, s.r.o., is a leading Czech producer in the field of refinery, petrochemical and agrochemical raw materials, which is also reflected in the initial abbreviation “ RPA”: refinery, petrochemistry, agrochemistry. The company supplies the market primarily with motor fuels, fuel oils, asphalts, liquefied petroleum products, oil hydrogenates, other refinery products, olefins and aromates, agrochemicals, alcohols, carbon black and sorbents, polyolefins (high-density polyethylene, polypropylene).
ČESKÁ RAFINÉRSKÁ, a.s., is the largest crude oil processing company and producer of oil products in the Czech Republic . It operates crude oil refineries in Litvínov and Kralupy nad Vltavou. It was founded on 28 April 1995 and is a joint-venture of Unipetrol, which owns 51.22 % of shares and foreign companies ENI (32,45 %) and Shell (16,33 %). Since 2003 it is operated as a processing refinery.
UNIPETROL SERVICES, s.r.o., was established on 1st January 2007. The mission of the SharedServicesCenter is to provide support to other companies of the Unipetrol Group in selected administrative support activities, such as financial accounting and taxes, financial management, human resources management, information technology, procurement, environmental protection, safety and quality (HSE&Q) and public relations, with the aim to increase effectiveness.
UNIPETROL DOPRAVA, s.r.o., Unipetrol Doprava engages in the transport and forwarding, in particular of chemical products, via railway, primarily for members of Unipetrol Group. The company ensures railway forwaring of consignments in freight cars with the help of public forwaders, and also in its own trains with the help of private hauliers on the nation-wide railway network, and ensures links to other public and private hauliers abroad.
PETROTRANS, spol. s.r.o., engages in the special tank haulage, in particular a transportation of liquid oil substances. It ranks among the largest hauliers of fuel in the CR, covering the entire territory of the republic and areas near frontiers with neighbouring countries. The company has more than 80 cistern trailer trucks and separate trucks, all of them complying with the international ADR standards on transport of dangerous goods.
Contact:
Blanka Růžičková
Spokesperson for Unipetrol, a.s.
Telephone: +420 225 001 407, +420 731 881 111
E-mail: blanka.ruzickova@unipetrol.cz