Encouraging words from Pittsburgh headquarters:
You make good steps, good solutions and right decisions in Kosice

President United States Steel Corporation John P. Surma, Executive Vice-President - operation USS John H. Goodish, Vice-Chairman of the Board and General Counsel USS Dan D. Sandman and Senior Vice President - Human Resources USS Thomas W. Sterling visited company U. S. Steel Kosice last Thursday. President Christopher Navetta, Vice-Presidents and other company managers welcomed them in territory of USSK. "I am honored to be again in Kosice," said John P. Surma during his meeting with managers. "USSK represents one of the most favorite places where I stop during my travel. I came to enjoy success you have reached in Kosice together with you. Slovakia is one of the countries I have always been very nicely welcomed."
At his presentation, President USS John P. Surma specified strategic intentions of the company in detail. Production is oriented to customer needs, production structure prefers products with higher added value, continuous cost savings are the objective.
In the future, the company intends to develop mostly those activities in which they are successful - steel production and trading. Further investments will be directed to areas known to be effective and bring further improvement in the future. Therefore, USS plans to invest mainly to new technologies. "We have to make prompt, good and correct decisions. It is important to correctly schedule all the steps." President appreciated results reached at USSK last year. "USSK has developed very good position," stated Mr. Surma. He is optimistic at outlook to following period as well, considering world economical trends when consumption takes advance to production.
Executive Vice-President - operation USS John H. Goodish mostly talked about productivity and customer reliability increase. Importance of cost reduction and maintaining on current level was emphasized in speech of Mr. Thomas W. Sterling. The company reached very good results at purchasing, production and logistics and shall continue in this process. "I am astonished with people's enthusiasm, it is very pleasant to be at U. S. Steel Kosice," said Dan D. Sandman. He said that members of Supervisory Board who had visited Kosice in September last year, felt very well here and appreciated pleasant atmosphere in Kosice. They see large potential of the company development in work teams, however attention should be paid to all details.
Chairman of Trade Union METALURG U. S. Steel Kosice Mikulas Dula contributed to discussion and was interested in possibilities of further development of Kosice company. Mr. Surma answered question on solving steel production limits related to SR accession to EU. "I believe in victory of healthy wits and goodwill," said President USS. John P. Surma thanked for work performed at USSK, for good work and business performance. He appreciated efforts made inn all areas of work safety being priority of entire company.
Although the President of U. S. Steel Corporation John Surma, Executive Vice-President - Operations John Goodish, General Counsel Dan Sandman and Vice-President - Human Resources Tom Sterling traveled to Kosice for just one day and they had a packed program for their visit, they made time to look round several USSK plants - Blast Furnace No.2, the Steel Shops and the Cold Strip Mill.

Foreign students in Kosice

Thirty young people, technical university students from Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, France, Portugal, Greece, Sweden, Spain and a couple of other European countries, spent yesterday morning at U. S. Steel Kosice. As well as meeting specialists from the Department of GM Environment and seeing a presentation of USSK activities in the field of environmental protection, they went on a tour round selected plants where important ecological investment projects have either been completed or are still proceeding. They visited the sintering plant, the cokery, the dry dump and the waste-water treatment plant at Sokolany. Their excursion round the steelworks was part of the BEST Winter Course 2003/04 program named "Industry and Ecology - War or Symbiosis?", prepared for foreign students by the BEST local group, whose patron is the Rector of the Technical University in Kosice Juraj Sinay.

Lunches with the President

On Monday U. S. Steel Kosice President Christopher Navetta invited ten employees from the Cokery to a joint lunch in recognition of their services to the development of this division. In the next few days the President is organizing another joint lunch for similarly selected employees from the Blast Furnaces Division.

U. S. Steel Kosice at trade fairs and exhibitions in 2004

This year U. S. Steel Kosice will be presenting its products at 17 trade fairs and exhibitions in Slovakia and abroad. The months of March and May will be the richest in events with three exhibitions apiece. Next month interested partners in Italy and Germany will be able to familiarize themselves with our radiators and pipes, and USSK will naturally be maintaining its traditional presence at the Slovakian fair Racioenergia in Bratislava.
In May the Kosice steelworks will be appearing at Sajam Technike Beograd in Belgrade, Serbia, Romtherm in Bucurest, Romania, Industria in Budapest, Hungary, and the International Engineering Fair at home in Nitra. The exhibited commodities in each case will be flat products and radiators. Other events in the first half of this year include the MTP fair in Poznan, Poland, and CWIEME in Berlin, Germany. After the summer holidays sales staff will be traveling in September to the JZV fair in Zagreb, Croatia, and to the neighboring Czech Republic, where the Brno International Engineering Fair will be taking place between September 20th-24th. In October it is the turn of Aqua-therm in St.Petersburg and Euroblech in Hannover, where the Kosice steelmakers will be presenting themselves for the first time at this specialized exhibition. In November our radiators will be "on the road" again to Prague for the next Aqua-therm fair, and USSK tin-plate products will be on show at the Emballage fair in Paris, France.
The last event of the year will also be taking place in France. At the beginning of December U. S. Steel Kosice will be presenting flat products, pipes and radiators to visitors at the Parisian trade fair Midest.