Prague, 31 March 2011 – The Unipetrol Group has become the general partner of the International Year of Chemistry 2011 in the Czech Republic, declared by UNESCO and the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry. In the course of this year, several chemistry fairs and workshops will take place at various locations in the Czech Republic, where visitors will be able to try different chemical experiments and learn something interesting from the field of chemistry.
“Unipetrol partnership will provide an incentive for the popularization of chemistry around the Czech Republic,“ said CEO of Unipetrol, Piotr Chełmiński. “As the demand for science and chemistry skills rises, we hope not only to increase awareness about the positive impacts of chemistry on everyday life but to attract new talent who could help strengthen our labor forces in the future.”
“Unipetrol is the leader of the Czech petrochemical and refining industry and an important employer within the entire Czech Republic, making it the natural partner for this important year-round event,” said Václav Slovák, member of the Czech Chemistry Society committee, which is coordinating the International Year of Chemistry in the Czech Republic.
The results of the public opinion poll requested by the Unipetrol Group indicate that 93% of the Czech population is aware of the importance of the chemistry in everyday life. Nine out of ten students believe chemistry is a lucrative field. “There is a general trend, however, of lower interest in studying of technical fields in the Czech Republic. Petrochemical companies could therefore face the lack of qualified labour forces in future,” said Piotr Chełmiński.
As part of the Chemistry Year celebration Unipetrol will support the organisation of four chemistry fairs and workshops. The first workshop will be held on 18 May in front of the National Technical Library in Prague and will be titled Chemistry and Fuels. As the name suggests, the event will focus on demonstration of the production and utilisation of traditional and alternative fuels. During the event Unipetrol is going to present, among others, a tank truck belonging to its subsidiary Petrotrans, the company fire brigade will also present its equipment. Also available will be a testing station from SGS, which will verify the quality of the VERVA premium fuel from Benzina. As for alternative fuels, the visitors will be able to see cars fuelled by natural gas, a “ hydrogen” bus or cars powered by ethane fuel E85.
In the course of this year, there will be other chemistry fairs held in Pardubice on 22 June, Ústí nad Labem on 18 September and Prague on 23 September. More information about the year of chemistry is available at LINK.
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 almost 4,000 people.
Contact:
Bořek Konečný
Communication Specialist
Telephone: +420 225 001 670, +420 736 502 600
E-mail: borek.konecny@unipetrol.cz