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Employees of ArcelorMittal donated more than 240 litres of blood in October

Ostrava, October 30, 2009 – 514 employees of ArcelorMittal Ostrava and ArcelorMittal Frýdek-Místek donated blood in October within the framework of campaign called 100 Minutes for Life. “We appreciate this initiative very much. Not only did the number of regular blood donors increase in October, but we were also happy to welcome 37 new donors from ArcelorMittal, which is what we especially need. We also value the support and participation of the company management,” says Naděžda Kalužová from Blood Centre of the teaching hospital in Ostrava.

In the last few years the number of blood donors has been decreasing steadily in the Czech Republic. Every year the number of donors of the life-giving liquid reduces by 10,000 on average. “I am happy that our employees appreciate the importance of blood donation, thus contributing to the saving of people’s lives,” says HR Director Ctirad Lolek.

Free blood donation has a long tradition in the biggest steelmaking company. “Among those who are awarded for blood donation every year are tens of our employees. This year, though, we wanted to encourage new blood donors and that is why we launched a campaign called 100 Minutes for Life at the beginning of October,” explained Monika Pěnčíková from the ArcelorMittal Ostrava Corporate Responsibility team. The campaign to encourage new blood donors was organized in conjunction with the Blood Centre in Ostrava Poruba. 100 minutes is the time that one spends donating blood in a blood centre. “100 minutes is not a very long time and by donating blood people contribute to saving lives. We wanted to encourage those who have been hesitant so far, maybe just because they are too busy,” explains Pěnčíková.

Among those who donated blood for the first time at the beginning of the company campaign were also members of the Top Management – HR Director Ctirad Lolek, IT Director Hana Čuboňová, and the CEO of subsidiary ArcelorMittal Frýdek-Místek, Tomáš Mischinger. “I am happy to have been able to donate blood and support the highly useful campaign despite being so busy. Time is our enemy, but the whole procedure really takes no more than 100 minutes,” said the HR Director about his new experience. “The campaign is a good impetus. Hopefully it will make all of us realize that blood donation should be natural,” Čuboňová added.

There are various reasons for blood donation. “I began to donate blood because of my wife. She received blood transfusion during childbirth and I promised myself to return what she had been given. And I have continued ever since,” said Kamil Michalík, electrician from ArcelorMittal Ostrava. “I decided to donate blood because my eldest daughter suffered from health problems. Besides, one never knows when they will need such a help, for example during an operation,” added Dušan Ťažký from the Steel Plant.

ArcelorMittal Ostrava a.s. is the largest steelmaker in the Czech Republic and a part of the world’s leading steel group ArcelorMittal. It produces more than 3 million tonnes of steel annually and exports approximately 50 per cent of its output to more than 80 countries all over the world. The Company has 5,950 employees; the total number of employees including the subsidiaries is over 7,300. Its major shareholders are ArcelorMittal Holdings A. G. (82.548 %) and Havrton Investment Ltd. (13.881 %). In the fiscal year of 2008 (April 1, 2008 – December 31, 2008), the Company generated a consolidated profit (after taxation) of CZK 6.077 billion. With its revenues of CZK 50.5 billion ArcelorMittal Ostrava is one of the biggest tax payers in the Czech Republic.

Last update: 11.11.2009