Safer with LOTOS
The coronavirus pandemic has posed major challenges for Poland. The work of medical and sanitary staff, border guards and police officers deserves particular recognition, as they are at the frontline of the fight for health and safety of Poles these days. Grupa LOTOS, acting in coordination with the Ministry of State Assets, takes various initiatives to support them in this difficult time.
- We want to offer real help to the Polish services in countering the effects of the pandemic, so we direct our support primarily to medical facilities, but also to the uniformed services. It is important to ensure that our company keeps operating and thus maintains uninterrupted fuel supply to LOTOS stations. We have also introduced procedures for safe operation of our plant. We are monitoring the situation all the time and taking further steps - said Paweł Jan Majewski, President of the Grupa LOTOS Management Board.
Supporting healthcare and other services
The company has donated a total of PLN 7m to support the Polish health service. PLN 2m was earmarked for fuel for 19 isolation hospitals throughout the country and PLN 5m for equipment (respirators, beds, personal protective equipment, thermometers and medicines) for four hospitals in the Gdańsk and Szczecin Provinces. The support is provided in cooperation with the Ministry of State Assets led by Deputy Prime Minister Jacek Sasin. Also smaller medical facilities receive assistance from Grupa LOTOS. For example, the out-patient clinic in Gdańsk Brzeźno has been provided with kits containing protective masks, goggles and overalls.
LOTOS lends its hand to uniformed services as well. At selected LOTOS stations, uniformed police officers, firefighters, city guards and customs and tax officers in marked vehicles are offered coffee, tea, hot chocolate and the Dynamic drink. Moreover, at selected service stations vehicles of the 7th Pomeranian Brigade of the Territorial Defence Force can be refuelled free of charge.
Caring for safety
The LOTOS retail network comprises more than 500 stations across Poland. It is of utmost importance now to ensure that their customers and employees stay safe. Therefore, customers are served through a window in the station building’s wall. At stations where this is not possible, the number of customers allowed inside the store has been limited. Customers are advised to keep a safe distance from one another and the staff and to pay cashless. All LOTOS stations are equipped with additional cleaning supplies. Leaflets are distributed at the stations, telling the readers how to act during a pandemic, and posters have been placed in prominent places. All sensitive areas at the stations are regularly disinfected.
The Crisis Team appointed by the President of the Grupa LOTOS Management Board is monitoring the situation on an ongoing basis and taking measures to optimise the refinery’s operation. Working hours have been reorganised and, wherever possible, the movement of people has been reduced. In order to protect employees working on production units, access to some buildings has been restricted. Additional precautions have also been introduced in the upstream segment. Miners working on LOTOS Petrobaltic oil rigs on the Baltic Sea, who are transported to their workplace by helicopter, receive hand sanitisers, masks and information leaflets. On the rigs, a doctor, a doctor’s office and a hospital section are available on a 24/7 basis.
LOTOS, as an oil company, maintains uninterrupted production. Its refinery in Gdańsk is operating steadily. A lenders reliability test of EFRA, the investment project which will be instrumental in placing additionally nearly one million tonnes of high-quality fuels on the market each year, has been successfully completed. Moreover, in mid-March the company announced the opening of a new service station in Łapy, Białystok Province. All this shows that LOTOS is consistently delivering its plans in this difficult period. The Company does not rule out taking more steps to help combat the coronavirus.