The premises of companies operating in Kralupy n. Vlt. represent a large complex comprising plenty of industrial and transportation noises produced not only by the biggest companies doing business in that complex - i.e. KAUÈUK and ÈESKÁ RAFINÉRSKÁ but also other companies like LINDE TECHNOPLYN, K-PROTOS, UNIPETROL - Doprava, and dozens of other smaller external, mostly maintenance companies. Identification of individual sources of noise and their contributions to the overall noise is not feasible since it is a result of a lot of other impacts of activities taking place in that locality, not necessarily associated with operations of industrial companies in the complex. It is mostly road, railroad, and air transportation.

With a goal to contribute to decreasing of the current noise levels around the premises of industrial companies in Kralupy n. Vlt. in order to comply with the highest allowable equivalent acoustic pressure levels at neighboring residential areas of Kralupy nad Vltavou and in the neighboring town of Veltrusy, in 2003 the management of Kauèuk, Inc. approved its important document titled “Framework plan on decreasing of noise levels at Kauèuk, Inc.” as a voluntary activity leading towards reduction of potential consequences of its impacts on its surroundings.

It is a set of long-term measures whose specific individual steps are continuously perfected in coordination with a professional competent noise expert and they are based on specific situations at individual production sites of the company. Dipl. Eng. Pavel Topinka, manager of the Company Management Systems Department of Kauèuk says: “Due to the character of the noise produced at the premises, we strive to deal with the current situation in a comprehensive manner and if possible, also in cooperation with all the important subjects operating on the premises. Based on our plan of decreasing of noise levels, our company took its first noise limitation measure at the Integral unit which purifies waste gases produced by the foamable polystyrene production. That project was designed by a specialized company focused on noise limitation. The specified measure rested in silencing of the unit’s fan and exhausts of pneumatic regulation which used to produce a characteristic noise pulsing background. The initial level at the compressor was more than 80 dB and it was successfully decreased by 10 dB. The noise level at the pneumatic regulation was decreased by more than 20 dB”, said and further mentioned that another very important step taken with a goal to reduce both noise levels and air pollution was the decommissioning of the polymerization section of the ABS production facility at the end of the year 2003.

Not only our company has a program on reducing noise pollution at the premises - last year, the Èeská rafinérská Company significantly reduced noise levels at its Izomerace /Isomerization/ production facility and a similar measure was taken by the Linde Technoplyn Company at its cooling towers. This year’s main activity of Kauèuk is focused on reduction of noise produced by compressors (so called series 200 and 300) at the polystyrene plastics production facility. As a result of that, that source of noise will be significantly reduced as well. The set of measures on reducing noise levels is a long-term project which will gradually affect all the company’s production facilities via their reconstructions and modernizations.

We talked to Miroslav Černac the director of Plastics Department. Mr Černac is a former head of the oficial team dealing with the Liquid Butadiene production unit sale. He informed us that the first intention to build a unit producing polybutadiene at Kaučuk comes from the 80th. The reason of a government research task was a desire to become independent on imports of both thermoplastic elastomers and liquid rubbers, including possibly also liquid polybutadiens. Only the intention to produce thermoplastic elastomers reached its project stage and the total volume was to be 10 thousand tons a year and 2 thousands of liquid rubbers a year (the first intention was abandoned).

In the year 1992, it was decided to build a unit producing liquid polybutadiens. Construction works themselves were completed in the year 1995 and the first liquid rubber called Krasol produced at that new production unit was made in the year 1996. Until that time, only small amounts were produced at the local pilot plant.

“The historically biggest production volume based on our customers’ business requirements was reached in the year 2002 when 611 tons were produced - however, it was still quite not enough, considering the production capacity. That was why a world-known partner was searched for in order to increase demand for our excellent product on a world basis. The best solution proved to be our cooperation with the Sartomer U.S. Company. In the year 2001, negotiations started and one year later, an agreement on marketing alliance was ratified. The specified agreement stated that Kauèuk, Inc. would produce products and the alliance partner would take care of marketing and sale of liquid polybutadiens of the Krasol series”, said manager Černáč.

The Sartomer Company is a member of the Total French Group based in Pennsylvania - in the city of Exton. It is focused on special polymer substances and their additives. The most important fact for was its world-wide distribution network operating even in China. Sartomer has its new representation office also in the Czech Republic. A new owner obtained our Kapalné kauèuky /Liquid rubbers/ unit in August. The whole transaction had been prepared for a long time. It included 25 agreements - each of them in at least four copies - and on top of it also appropriate acceptance protocols, and other documents.

A marathon of signatures was run by the chairman of the Board of directors of Kaučuk, Inc. and head-manager Radomír Vìk representing the selling party. The buying party was represented by head-manager of the Sartomer Europe Company, Laurent Suspene, and head-manager of Sartomer Czech, LLC, Patrick Arlaud together with financial manager Dipl. Eng. Jan Landa.

And how will the new owner, Sartomer Czech, operate that unit and what relationships with our company will be maintained? Dipl. Eng. Černáč: “The specified company currently owns the production facility itself, it is the owner of the pilot plant and all of its accessories, and it also rented offices at the former Synthetic Rubber Research Institute in order to conduct research activities. In terms of production, Kauèuk becomes a supplier of the main raw material - butadiene and all the necessary supporting types of energy as cold, water, etc.”.

In July, there was already the second work injury followed by a sick leave lasting more than three days. A company’s shift employee working at the incinerating station stepped on a Board with a nail during crushing of wooden waste and his working boot was pierced. The sick leave took place from July 16 to July 19 - therefore four workdays. That injury was included into the statistics kept by the Unipetrol Group in the framework of a competition among companies and the company had to report it to the government professional monitoring bodies - the Work Inspectorate in Prague. The two injuries directly contract with no injuries in the year 2004. Every injury represents a warning memento.

What measures are being worked on? Manager of the Safety Prevention Department of Kauèuk, Inc., Mr. Robert Kyselý, says: “In this case it was a regular work risk. We can really only recommend taking maximum possible care during any kind of operation conducted at that worksite. The worker used a specified and approved type of footwear and such a unique situation may occur in exceptional cases”, concluded R. Kyselý.

For two days our joint-stock company was being visited by the representatives of the Czech Environment Inspection and other state authorities. The reason for this was to check the adherence to the Act no. 353, concerning prevention of serious industrial accidents caused by listed dangerous chemical substances.

The auditors were received by Ing. Petr Hloušek, a head of the Informatics and Logistics division, who is tasked with the supervision over the matters in question. Ing.Leona Roznìtínská of the Czech Environment Inspection, acting as a head of the team of auditors, resolved that the audit would focus on the monomers production plant, Butadiene and Styrene processing facility, as well as the liquids storage area.

The relevant teams, each one working in an independent fashion, made a visit to predetermined factory establishments. Aside from other documents, the auditors were provided with the company’s safety report and emergency response plan in order to compare whether the current conditions observes what is stated in the documents. The protocol drawn up upon completion of the inspection has confirmed that our company fully and with no exceptions complies with the requirements imposed by law. Some minor suggestions were recorded; these, however, generate no penalties. The specific reports on the audits conducted will be compiled by the Czech Environment Inspection into the final report, which will then be delivered to the top management of the Kauèuk a.s. for signing and will serve as a basis for the implementation of final corrective measures.

One of the factors that determine the quality of the environment is noise pollution generated by production operations. The industrial zone in Kralupy, occupied chiefly by Kaučuk and Česká rafinérská, is a source of this encumbrance, too. Both companies, however, formulated a plan aimed at reducing the noise created by its production facilities. Following the plan, this year the Kaučuk company will implement the noise abatement measures in the expandable polystyrene production facility. The current situation should improve with the replacement of compressors used in the pneumatic transport of the product. Such an investment is likely to reduce the noise levels in the production facility by more than 20dB, which is also expected to benefit the surroundings of the entire industrial complex.

On May 31st, 2006 the Board of Directors of Kaučuk, a.s. accepted the resignation of Mr. Jan Landa, Chief Financial Officer and Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of Kaučuk, a.s. The Board of Directors of Unipetrol, a.s. would like to thank Mr. Jan Landa for his involvement and work for Unipetrol Group and wishes him a lot of success in his future personal life and professional career.

The Environmental Centre in Kralupy Was Opened on October 2, 2006. The gala opening of the Environmental Centre in Kralupy took place on Monday, October 2, 2006. The establishment of the centre is the joint initiative of the companies conducting their business activities in or in the vicinity of the industrial complex in Kralupy nad Vltavou in cooperation with the town of Kralupy nad Vltavou and the Lignite Research Institute in Most, within the frame of which the Environmental Centre in Most for the Ore Mountains Region has been running successfully for 5 years. The Environmental Centre in Kralupy nad Vltavou is located in the centre of the town of Kralupy nad Vltavou in the complex of the Máj Shopping Centre and it operates according to the well-proven model of the Environmental Centre in Most - i.e. green line, website, and communication with the public while utilising available information on the state of the environment in the region, as well as information provided interactively by companies conducting their business activities in or in the vicinity of the industrial complex in Kralupy nad Vltavou. The Environmental Centre aims to contribute to a more flexible and material communication with the public in our region. The representatives of all companies and municipalities of the region have taken part in the gala opening.

In April and May last year, inspections of the occupational health and safety management systems were performed in all divisions of the joint-stock company Kaučuk, including the detached Ethylbenzene production unit in Litvínov. The inspections were conducted by the inspectors from the OHS Inspectorates for the Region of Central Bohemia and the Region of Ústí nad Labem in connection with the prolongation of the validity of the Safe Enterprise certificate. Our company has been the holder of the above mentioned certificate, which is a national certificate for the OHS system, since May 2000 and it actually became one of its first promoters then in the Czech Republic in the field of chemistry. In 2006, an information campaign entitled “European Occupational Health and Safety Week” was underway, focusing on increasing the awareness related to the risks threatening young people. The campaign closing ceremony held on October 24, 2006 in the Kaiserstein Palace included the awarding of the “Safe Enterprise” certificates, the evaluation of the “Good Practice” programme, as well as the granting of the “Enterprise Promoting Health” award. The “Safe Enterprise” certificate awarded to Kaučuk by the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, RNDr. Petr Nečas, was accepted by our Technical Division Director, Ing. Jindřich Švec. The certificate is valid for three years. Kaučuk has acquired it for the third time, which bespeaks of the high standards of the occupational safety policy in our company. Our objective is to continue in this trend and thereby contribute to the goodwill of our company.