Strategy
NWR seeks to maintain its leading position in Central Europe through organic growth and regional expansion, and by capitalising on long-term industrial growth and steel production trends in the region.
Specifically the Company plans to:
- continue production of high quality coal products
- enhance profitability by investing in equipment and technology
- maintain high level of responsiveness to customer specifications
- strengthen procurement and operational efficiencies
- build the reserve base from existing mines
- selectively pursue growth opportunities in Poland, the Ukraine and elsewhere in CEE
We expect to benefit as steel production grows over the long term to meet the demands of the auto, appliance, construction and other manufacturing industries in Central Europe.
Values
Modern Technologies
In 2007 we took a major strategic decision to improve the efficiency and profitability of our business. Our major capital investment proramme, Productivity Optimisation Programme ("POP 2010") is designed to improve the efficiency of our coal mining operations at all four of our mining complexes. POP 2010 is a two-phase project that will replace all of the Company’s out-of-date mining equipment with state-of-the-art technology. The POP2010 equipement is technologically advanced relative to our older equipement and hence less prone to breakdown and this should require less maintenance. In addition, health and safety features are materially enhanced through, for example, reductions in dust and noise. We are also implementing our Coking Plant Optimisation Programme ("COP 2010"), which will help to improve the efficiency of our coking operations.
These programmes are transforming NWR into a world-class business, which will be ready to take advantage of any global economic recovery.
NWR continues to review the implementaton to its investment plans to ensure optimum scheduling and cash flow enhancement.
Health and safety of our employees is of the highest priority
Safeguarding the health and promoting the safety of our workers is a fundamental part of our business, and we remain committed to doing all we can to improve health and safety in all our operations.
We have implemented stringent and sophisticated safety programmes, monitoring systems and practices throughout our mines and coking plants. Hard coal mining inevitably involves a degree of risk, particularly in our case given the depth of many of our operations. The risks emanating from geological hazards, including rock falls as well as gas explosions, are always present and have to be adequately managed.
We strive to learn from all accidents and to implement further measures in order to prevent similar events from occurring in the future. Investigations into the cause of every fatal accident are conducted by a committee normally comprising of members of the mining community, management and the trade union.
We continue to invest significantly in personal safety protection gear and training programmes in order to enhance safety. New mining equipment purchased within the framework of our POP 2010 programme also makes a major contribution to enhanced safety.
Time lost to injuries is a clear measure of the general safety procedures in force. In this respect, our safety record is comparable to worldwide standards. Furthermore, it is continuing to improve; the LTIFR for 2008 showed a substantial decrease, down by over 17 per cent at OKD and 39 per cent at OKK, compared to 2007.
Corporate Social Responsibility
An important part of the long-term sustainability and performance of our business is our commitment to the community and environment surrounding our operations. Minimising the impact of our activities on the environment and working closely with the communities in which we operate are an integral part of our corporate strategy – to maintain our postion as a highly socially responsible corporation.
Environment
We work closely with our regulators, the Czech Mining Authority and the Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic, while maintaining an open dialogue with local municalities, mining communities and environmental bodies. Due to the nature of our business, it is crucial that issues such as water or air pollution, waste disposal or hazardous chemical management are closely monitored and managed. In 2008, our regulators confirmed that none of our activities were percieved as harmful to the environment in which we operate.
Reclamation
Some of the areas in which we operate have been mining sites for over 200 years and the local environment has inevitably been affected by long-term projects without any reclamation projects having taken place in the past. NWR is committed to changing this attitude and currently conducts on average one reclamation project per week over the course of a year.
Waste and pollution
We recognised that there was a need to change our coking operations to reduce pollution. In order to mitigate against this, we now use an inert gas, which significantly reduces air poluttion. Additionally, we have reduced the corrosion of pipes and subsquent potenial for water pollution.
Charitable giving
We are proud to contribute to the OKD Foundation, which provides long-term support for projects in the Moravian-Silesian region. The Foundation relies on charitable donations, and in 2008 NWR donated EUR 1 million to the Foundation.
