• Czech Coal Group
• Czech Coal a.s.
• Vršanská uhelná a.s.
• Litvínovská uhelná a.s.

You can vote for Clever Heads over the Internet and mobile telephone

Press Release

Most, 14 May 2010 – In March, the Czech Coal Group launched a grant scheme called Chytré hlavy pro Sever [Clever Heads for the North] and intended for support of education in the region. Secondary and tertiary education institutions operating in the Most area have entered some thirty projects, valued a total of CZK 20 million, under the scheme.

The Czech Coal Group regards support for education in the region as an integral part of its public activities. For the Ústecký Region, the low level of its population’s education is one of its key problems, with the high rate of unemployment in the region closely related to this problem. Although major companies, including the Czech Coal Group, feel the shortage of qualified personnel on all levels, the structure of education fails to meet the employers’ requirements.

The Czech Coal Group is convinced that support for educational projects is needed. It therefore provided help for educational projects in the past years. Last year its sponsorship focused more strongly on this area as part of Program Spolužití [the Coexistence Programme], to which the Chytré hlavy pro Sever scheme is linked.

Of the projects submitted to the scheme, 15 projects that best meet the Czech Coal Group’s plans to enhance the level of education in the region have been selected this year. In a few days, these projects will be published in the local press and at www.chytrehlavy.cz. Between 17 May and 15 June 2010 the public will be able to vote over the Internet and via SMS text messages to elect one of the projects to be supported. The end of June will see the announcement of the winner of public voting and of the other projects to be supported, and ten voters, selected by drawing lots, who will receive gifts from the Czech Coal Group will also be made known.

Information about the voting method can be obtained at www.chytrehlavy.cz, www.czechcoal.cz, telephone number 476 203 713, the Coexistence Information and Contact Centre [Informační a kontaktní centrum Spolužití] in Litvínov, and at Spolužití’s toll-free number 800 800 499.

The Czech Coal Group includes Czech Coal a.s., a trader in energy commodities, mainly brown coal, electrical energy and greenhouse gas emissions allowances, and Litvínovská uhelná a.s., which manages the largest coal deposit in the Czech Republic, Vršanská uhelná a.s., whose coal reserves within the mining limits will last until 2058, Czech Coal Services, a.s., which provides shared services to the extraction companies, and a number of other service companies. REN Power CZ, a.s., a major investor in renewable energy sources, and FitCraft Production a.s., a prominent Czech manufacturer of photovoltaic systems, also form a part of the Group.

Contact:
Gabriela Benešová
Spokesperson
Czech Coal Group
Tel.: +420 476 203 141
GSM: +420 725 327 758
g.benesova@czechcoal.cz
www.czechcoal.cz