Top U. S. Steel Corporation officials in Kosice

Top U. S. Steel Corporation officials from Pittsburgh accepted invitation to the company ball, being an opportunity to meet the city and regional representatives. Mr. John P. Surma, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Longhi, Executive Vice President & - Europe Chief Operating Officer, Mr. George F. Babcoke, Senior Vice President & Global Operations Services and Mr. James D. Garraux, General Counsel & Senior Vice President - Corporate Affairs arrived in Kosice on Friday last week (Jan 11, 2013).
The first guests´ steps led to the steelmaking company premises where they met managers of all company departments on Friday afternoon as well as union leaders in order to inform them on actual Corporation events. The traditional New Year´s meeting was opened by Mr. John P. Surma, thanking them for excellent performance in year 2012. "Business in Europe was generally complicated in all industrial sectors but mainly in the steelmaking sector. I think that quality of this plant, its staff and Top Management has been reflected in the performance achieved," he stated. "Congratulations, and thank you all."
President of the U. S. Steel Corporation expressed sorrow over the recent fatal occupational injury of the employee from BF Division that occurred in December 2012. "It's very sad; a big loss that affects feelings of all. Therefore I must ask all of you to devote yourselves to the idea of avoiding such tragedy in the plant," he pointed out. "Do your best at work in order to reach zero injury rate. We are seeking methods and mechanisms of occupational safety improvement. Think also about improvement of safety of all our staff," he addressed the words to all attendees.

Labortest among the top laboratories

Last year, in a comparison of more than fifty laboratories from around the world, the subsidiary company of U. S. Steel Kosice - Labortest, s.r.o. made it into the group of the 26 best laboratories. This took place on the basis of tests organized by the international standardization organization ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials).
"The mechanical test laboratory of Labortest participated last May and June in international laboratory comparative tests organized by ASTM. The result of these tests is a performance evaluation of each participating laboratory. From a total of 52 laboratories from around the world, our laboratory results were ranked among the group of the 26 successful top laboratories," director of the company U. S. Steel Kosice - Labortest, s.r.o. Ladislav Rozek confirmed the success of the Kosice group.

The 12th U. S. Steel Kosice ball

On Saturday 12 January the U. S. Steel Kosice ball was held, according for the twelth time the opportunity to thank business partners for the trust and cooperation they have displayed. Participating along with customers from home and abroad as well as suppliers, the ball was attended by other partners from various areas of public and social life. The event was also an opportunity to remind the guests from abroad that Kosice is the capital European city of culture this year.
The organizational committe, led by wife of the president Mary Rintoul, once again prepared a charity auction of work from the painting plenary Steelworkers paint with the artists, and metal objects from the international workshop for young designers Metal Inspirations. Proceeds from this the sixth auction are to aid the Eastern Slovak institute for heart and vascular diseases. In past years the steelmaking company gave the financial sum from the auction to various Kosice non-profit organizations: the archdiocese charity, the geriatric center, the zoo, the animal shelter and helped the family of a metallurgist who found himself in a difficult life situation.

Kosice to become The European City Of Culture

For 365 days the metropolis of Eastern Slovakia this year becomes the European capital of culture. Only three days remain until the opening ceremony. It takes place on the 19th and 20th of January 2013 and will be a full presentation of the most varied genres, reaching its culmination with a concert by the British funk group Jamiroquai at Steel Arena.
The organizers promise that both the people of Kosice and visitors to the city will find what they are looking for during the upcoming weekend. The official opening of Kosice - European capital of culture 2013 will take place on Sunday 20 January at 4:00 p.m. at the State theatre, a grand Opening show at the Lower gate gets underway at 6:00 p.m. A detailed program is offered by the web page www.ehmk.sk