Two nest boxes are located at the Litvínov chemical plant. The first one is on the smokestack of the heating plant and the other one on the steam cracker’s chimney. Both are installed at an elevation of over 100 metres, as peregrines look for the highest possible nesting places where they have absolute peace and an excellent overview of the surroundings.

Ornithologist Václav Beran from the ALKA Wildlife association checks the nest boxes every spring. This March was no exception: “For the time being, peregrines have settled only on the heating plant’s smokestack. This is where an online camera has been installed, so we have an excellent view of what’s going on in the nest. Peregrines sit on eggs for about one month. If everything goes well, the young could hatch in April. We will climb up the smokestack at the end of April to ring the chicks.”

 
Peregrines have been present at the Litvínov chemical plant since 2011. Aside from the Litvínov plant, they also find the refinery smokestacks in Kralupy nad Vltavou and the Spolana Neratovice site to their liking. “During this time, already 25 chicks of this critically endangered species have hatched. It also looks promising this year. Apart from Litvínov, peregrines are also nesting at the refinery in Kralupy nad Vltavou and at another plant, Spolana Neratovice. The female is already sitting on three eggs there,” said Pavel Sláma, Director of the Unipetrol Group’s EKO unit.

 
The peregrine can live up to 20 years and returns to its favourite nesting grounds for life. With a maximum dive speed exceeding 350 km/h, it is probably the fastest animal on Earth. The peregrine is a bird species that has traditionally been found in the Czech Republic. The population of this predator that hunts pigeons, ducks, other smaller birds and bats was the highest in the 1940s and 1950s when at least 60 breeding pairs were present in the territory of what was then Czechoslovakia. Peregrines disappeared from the Czech landscape in the 1970s as a result of the excessive use of agricultural pesticides. They started reappearing at the end of the 1980s. At the turn of the millennium, roughly 20 pairs were breeding in the Czech Republic. Today, thanks to strict protection, approximately one hundred pairs of Peregrines live in our country.

 

 
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.

For more information, please visit the “Responsible Company” section at www.unipetrol.cz.
 

Contact information: Pavel Kaidl, spokesman, telephone: +420 225 001 407, +420 736 502 520, e-mail: pavel.kaidl@unipetrol.cz