Thirteen steelmakers at working lunch with President David H. Lohr

Thirteen selected employees of the Steel Plant division out of fourteen originally invited sat down at a specially-set table for a working lunch last week, which they were invited to by U. S. Steel Kosice President David H. Lohr. Experienced steelmakers Michal Papcun, Johana Barnova, Stefan Kundrath, Cyril Cabak, Peter Racz, Jan Jasko, Vojtech Vrabel, Milan Sicak, Jozef Lukac, Juraj Biacovsky, Jaroslav Guzi, Marta Vavrekova and Jozef Lesko spent more than an hour in the company of the President and other top managers of the Kosice firm - Vice-president Operations Scott Pape, Vice-president Personnel and Organization Martin Pitorak and General Manager Primary Bradly S. Bently.
In an informal atmosphere their discussion ranged over many topics - work, of course, and the problems and enjoyment associated with it, then family life, children, hobbies and different ways of relaxing, which time must always be found for. Work around the weekend cottage or in the garden, hiking, tennis, ice-hockey, soccer, skiing, swimming, bowling, all either actively or as spectators, then mushrooming, picture-painting, wood-working, amateur electronics, watching good films, hunting, and handicrafts - these are the hobbies which the President's guests spend most of their spare time doing. In return they found out a few details about the working and private lives of their host and the other managers.

Meeting with entrepreneurs

Last week the American Chamber of Commerce in Kosice organized a meeting with entrepreneurs and representatives of companies operating in the East Slovakian region. The principal guest at this event was U. S. Steel Kosice President David H. Lohr, who discussed various topics with the entrepreneurs, but mainly about possibilities for assisting in the development of the region. The meeting was also attended by the American Chamber of Commerce in Slovakia's Executive Director Jake Slegers.

Summer Internship 2005

Friday, July 1st 2005, saw the beginning of two months of paid summer internship at U. S. Steel Kosice for the best part of fifty university students. This is the fourth time now that a group of young people, students in the third or fourth years of university or college, have had the opportunity to become steelmakers for two months. In order to achieve this, they had to pass through a selection procedure which among other things also included a test and interview in English language.
On Monday, July 4th, all of them were given training in work safety and protection, and since then they have been settling into their temporary workplaces - in production operations but also in administration. They will be spending the first three days of each week working under the supervision of their mentors, and they will be expected to take an active role in dealing with various tasks and problems. Thursdays and Fridays will be devoted to further training, workshops, seminars and specialist courses including guided tours of the production plants.

Kosice's rating improves by two points

The Slovak Rating Agency has announced the decision by its rating committee at its session last week to raise its assessment of the City of Kosice by two scale points. Kosice is now assigned a long-term rating assessment in the category of Slovak crown transactions of BB- (stable prospect). The national rating assessment in the category of Slovak crown transactions is A- (stable prospect). In the category of foreign currency transactions Kosice is assigned a rating assessment of B+ (stable prospect). Kosice's short-term rating assessment is now S3. The rating committee took a positive view of the trend in the financial area during the period to date, in which the process of consolidation of the city's finances has continued. Further improvement in cash flow has been achieved, and the city has re-established its solvency.