Annual Report and Accounts 2010

Corporate responsibility and sustainable development are key elements of NWR’s corporate strategy. The core areas of our CSR strategy are corporate governance, our employees, environmental protection, the application of modern technologies, and relationships with communities where NWR operates.

NWR is committed to maintaining high standards of corporate governance, which takes into account international best practice requirements. Management’s role is to promote the achievement of the corporate objectives and protect the interest of NWR Group, its shareholders and other stakeholders including business partners and customers.

Mine rescuer training at HBZS, OKD mining rescue service

Caring for our employees across areas including safety, health care, a suitable working environment, fair remuneration and education, is a top priority. Every Year NWR invests considerable amounts of time and money in improving safety measures implemented at our workplaces as well as in training our employees.

MFK OKD Karvina Football Club

NWR maintains close relationships with the communities in which we operate and aims to develop and maintain mutually beneficial partnerships. We also invest significantly in cultural, sports and educational activities wherever we operate.

Rehabilitation project – Lazy settling reservoirs in Karviná

As a mining company, we are very aware of the impacts of our activities on the environment wherever we operate. NWR strives to employ all means available to optimise the benefits and mitigate any adverse environmental impacts of our operations.

The HSEC was established in 2007 to assist NWR’s Board of Directors in its oversight of health, safety and environmental risks within NWR and its subsidiaries including the Group’s compliance with applicable legal and regulatory requirements associated with HSE matters. Thus the HSEC provides the Board with additional focus, insight and guidance on key HSE issues of NWR Group and global trends. The members of the HSEC are: Paul Everard (Chairman), Mike Salamon, Klaus-Dieter Beck and Steven Schuit. The meetings are also regularly attended by Ján Fábian, Chief Operating Officer of NWR who is responsible for the operations of NWR KARBONIA S.A. (‘NWR KARBONIA’) and OKK Koksovny, a.s. (‘OKK Koksovny’), and by two external experts, Stan Suboleski and Karl-Friedrich Jakob, both members of the Board of OKD, a.s. (‘OKD’).

Further details on functioning and activities of the HSEC may be found in the Corporate Governance section of this report here.

CSR activities are co-ordinated by the NWR SDC, which was established by the Company's Board of Directors in 2009. Reporting to the Company's Board, the SDC has decision making powers in respect of collecting incoming applications for financial assistance, evaluating, assessing and adopting decisions on the applications received, in line with the CSR strategy and the budget, administering the approved projects, communicating with the applicants, and submitting annual reports on sponsored projects to the Board. The Committee meets at least once a year and more frequently as necessary. In the interim, the Committee assesses application requests.

The extent of the CSR activities has outgrown the scope of the regular Annual Report. Thus, for the first time, NWR is publishing a separate CSR review, which includes a comprehensive overview of these activities in 2010. In line with our aim to further develop our sustainability reporting, NWR intends to issue a sustainability overview annually, shortly after the release of the Annual Report and Accounts.