Prague, 16 October 2009 – Companies in the Unipetrol Group won a total of three awards in this year’s PETROLaward competition. Česká rafinérská for modernisation of the LPG section in the Kralupy refinery and Benzina for the narrative publication “Benzina transformed through the ages”. The book won two awards – in public voting and also in terms of judging by the specialist panel.

The Secretary General of the Czech Association of Petroleum Industry and Trade (ČAPPO) Miloš Podrazil was named personality of the year, nominated for this award by Česká rafinérská together with Benzina and Unipetrol. 

The book “Benzina transformed through the ages” contains several valuable period photographs and texts on the development of the petroleum industry and services at filling stations. Benzina published the book last autumn on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of foundation of the company. The book came out top in the competition category Professional and Publication Activities, in which it won both prizes awarded. 

Česká rafinérská won first prize in the Products and Technology category. Public voting decided on the win by the project for modernisation of the LPG section in the FCC refinery complex in Kralupy nad Vltavou. This investment project worth almost 400 million crowns was implemented in a record time of six months. 

Prizes at the PETROLawards are awarded for significant contribution to development in the field of crude oil processing, the petrochemical industry and filling stations. The competition is organised by PETROLmedia. This year was already the third year of the competition. Businesses in the Unipetrol Group won awards for three projects last year. The Quality Manager Václav Loula from the management of Benzina was named personality of the year 2008. 

Seven prizes are awarded in the PETROLaward competition. Decision on the winners is made by a panel of judges or Internet voting by professionals in the field. The results are announced every year at the PETROLsummit conference, which was held this year on 15 October in Prague.

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. 

BENZINA, spol. s r. o., as a part of UNIPETROL Group, is a trading company with the largest network of petrol stations in the Czech Republic. Currently, it operates more than 330 of them. These petrol stations have in their offer not only a high-quality additive fuel and premium fuel, but also additional assortment of Benzina goods and another services. 

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 procesing refinery.

Contact: 
Blanka Růžičková 
Spokesperson for Unipetrol, a.s. 
Telephone: +420 225 001 407, +420 731 881 111 
E-mail: blanka.ruzickova@unipetrol.cz​