“We are happy about the long-term success of our beekeepers in the Czech Honey competition. Honey harvesting at Spolana is also a nice experience for children from local primary schools who regularly take part in it,” says Piotr Kearney, executive director at Spolana.

Beekeepers at Neratovice-based Spolana have been keeping keeps for seven years. The quality of their honey is best attested to by the fact that beekeepers repeatedly receive a gold medal from an accredited laboratory of the Bee Research Institute. The first place is awarded for the outstanding quality of the honey based on tests performed in many categories, e.g., the general aesthetic impression and physical and chemical properties.

“We are delighted that the honey from ten bee colonies that we care for in the non-manufacturing part of the site again ranked first and received a gold medal. Luckily enough, our bee colonies were not hit by this year’s heavy rains and floods. We are already getting ready for another year and look forward to the regular honey harvesting in which we also engage children from local schools,” says Lukáš Karlík, a beekeeper and director of the Energy and Water Management Unit at Spolana.

Spolana is also active in other environmental initiatives. Together with the Czech Anglers Union and the Ecological Centre in Kralupy nad Vltavou, it organises fish-stocking activities in the River Elbe. The company is also committed to protecting peregrine falcons that regularly nest on its premises. The environmental impact of Spolana’s production has significantly decreased over the past years. The manufacturing site’s surroundings, especially its final sedimentation tank, are a sought-after sanctuary of many protected and endangered species. The site’s cleanliness is attested to by the presence of Eurasian otter, common teal, common kingfisher, and salmon trout, i.e., species highly sensitive to the quality of the environment.

SPOLANA s.r.o. is one of the largest chemical manufacturing companies in the Czech Republic. The only manufacturer of PVC and caprolactam also produces ammonium sulphate and sulphuric acid. It currently employs over 700 people. Spolana has been owned by the ORLEN Unipetrol Group since 2016. The ORLEN Unipetrol Group is the largest refining and petrochemical company in the Czech Republic. It focuses on crude oil processing and production, distributing and selling fuels and petrochemical products – mainly plastics and fertilisers. It is one of the major players in the Czech and Central European markets in all these areas. The ORLEN Unipetrol Group includes refineries and production plants in Litvínov and Kralupy nad Vltavou, Paramo in Pardubice, Spolana in Neratovice, and two research centres in Litvínov and Brno. ORLEN Unipetrol also includes the ORLEN network of filling stations in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. ORLEN Unipetrol is one of the largest companies in the Czech Republic in terms of turnover. It employs almost 6,000 people. In addition to its business development, ORLEN Unipetrol is proud to be a socially responsible corporation. Therefore, it pays equal attention to initiatives focusing on cultivating and supporting sustainable development, education, local communities, and the environment. In 2005, ORLEN Unipetrol became part of the PKN Orlen Group, the largest oil processor in Central Europe.

Contact details: Pavel Kaidl, spokesperson, telephone: +420 225 001 407, +420 736 502 520, email: pavel.kaidl@orlenunipetrol.cz