“Our Running Club has been working for three years. We pay three quarters of the starting fee to our employees when they take part in races held close to our production plants. Membership in the Running Club brings not only good feelings for being out in the fresh air, but also for having an opportunity to help those in need: The Club donates CZK 100 for each kilometre they run. The collected sum is then handed over to the organisations which need it,” Michał Chmiel, HR Director of the Unipetrol Group and a keen and active runner, explains the principles of the Club.
The financial amount raised through running in 2019 was partially distributed among the following organisations:
- Litvínov – Hamr Primary School which follows the “School in a Playful and Healthy Style” school education programme;
- Most Art School which aims to educate aesthetically perceptive and sensitive young people;
- Most Infant Home which provides care to children up to the age of 3 and seeks to provide them with a favourable social environment;
- Astéri Endowment Fund helping patients with cystic fibrosis;
- ‘Nové háro’ association helping children and young patients with cancer by providing them with tailored wigs.
“We have chosen the non-profit organisations based on the recommendations of our employees. We will also put a part of the money to a new corporate CSR platform which will be used by our employees in the future to select the organisations where the money will go to,” Michał Chmiel concludes.
“This year, I took part in seven races falling under our Running Club and I ran 130.1 km. The May marathon in Prague was probably the toughest one when I had to work really hard. I am glad that my love of running can indirectly help those in need,” says Jiří Dvořák, an operator from Spolana Neratovice that is part of the Unipetrol Group.
The Unipetrol Group is the largest refinery and petrochemical company in the Czech Republic. It focuses on crude-oil processing and on the production, distribution and sale of vehicle fuels and petrochemical products – particularly plastics and fertilisers. In all these areas, it belongs among the important players on the Czech and Central European market. The 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 filling stations in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. With 416 filling stations, Benzina is the largest chain in the Czech Republic. Unipetrol is one of the largest companies in terms of turnover in the Czech Republic. It earned over CZK 130 billion last year and employs more than 4,800 persons. In addition to its business development, Unipetrol is proud to be a socially responsible corporation. Therefore, it pays an equal amount of attention to initiatives which focus on the cultivation and support of sustainable development, education, local communities, and the environment. In 2005, Unipetrol became a member of the PKN Orlen Group, the largest crude-oil processor in Central Europe.