John P. Surma in Kosice

U. S. Steel Corporation President John P. Surma, who also became Chief Executive Officer last week (October 1st), visited Kosice over the weekend. He was accompanied by other Corporation top managers. On Saturday morning they visited the Kosice steelworks, where they were welcomed by U. S. Steel Kosice President Christopher Navetta together with other top managers of the company.
Then John Surma looked round the Blast Furnaces, Steel Shops, Hot and Cold Strip Mill divisions. In the afternoon the guests from Pittsburgh went to look at the new ice stadium in Kosice. They had a meeting that evening at the Old Town Hall on the Main Street in Kosice with City Mayor Zdenko Trebula and other representatives of the city. The meeting was also attended by SR Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda and some of the marathon runners who lined up at the start on Sunday morning for the 81st edition of the Kosice Peace Marathon.
Zdenko Trebula took the opportunity to express his appreciation for the wide-ranging assistance provided by U. S. Steel Kosice towards the development of this region and in support of many charity, cultural and sporting events in the city. Later that evening John Surma very pleasantly surprised the employees of the Power Division when he came to the traditional Power Workers' Ball.

KPM is won by Adam Dobrzynski from Poland

Everything turned out perfectly on Sunday for the organizers of the Kosice Peace Marathon, for which U. S. Steel Kosice has been principal sponsor since the year 2000. Excellent weather, the highest ever number of foreign competitors, superb atmosphere on the course and all along it, and finally also a new course record.
The starting line of Europe's oldest marathon at 10 a.m. on Sunday, October 3rd 2004 was taken up by 1231 marathoners, half-marathoners, wheelchair racers and in-line skaters. One of the runners lining up at the start for the third time in a row was the Pole Adam Dobrzynski. Last year he finished third, and two years ago second, so "only" the victory was needed to complete his medal collection. This year he ran across the finishing line in a new record time for the course of 2h12m 35s, which was 5 seconds better than the previous record time of 2h12m40s produced by the Kenyan David Kariuki in 2002. Second place was taken by Maritim Kipruto of Kenya in a time of 2h 15m44s after a surprising struggle with Ukrainian newcomer Dmytro Osadcij, who took third place in a time of 2h15m 50s. The brightly-colored peloton also included several prominent personalities.
Premier Mikulas Dzurinda decided once again to run the Kosice Marathon, and he was very well prepared for it. He finished in 196th spot in 3h28m13s, which was a new prime ministerial personal best time. The marathon start-line also featured SR National Council member Miroslav Abelovsky, who finished in 355th place. The half-marathon course was attempted by Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja.

Jonckheere open their first foreign operation in Kosice

At a press conference on Monday (October 4th), U. S. Steel Kosice General Manager for Regional Development and Economic Development Center Chief Executive Juraj Augustin was joined by Jonckheere Subcontracting N.V. CEO Paul J. A. Schodts in announcing the decision by this Belgian company to invest in a new operation in Kosice.
This decision by the company Jonckheere, which extends the family of foreign investors in Kosice, was appreciated by USSK Vice-president Strategic Implementation Anton Jura. Slovakia, he said, has recently made distinct progress in creating a favorable entrepreneurial environment, and this has also been noted positively by the World Bank.

Sports-entertainment center reopened

Sports-entertainment center at Alejova Street in Kosice has been reopened thanks to U. S. Steel Kosice, s.r.o. and the Kosice-South municipality. The objective was to return to the Kosice children the site of fun and games after thirteen years absence. Both partners started the site reconstruction in August 2004. An opening ceremony, is to be held on October 5 at 9:00 AM and will be attended by children from near-by elementary schools. Also in attendance will be Mrs. Phyllis Navetta, wife of USSK president and number of American ex-patriot spouses and mothers.
The idea for reconstruction of the park came from the American spouses and mothers who wanted to give something back to the community where they lived. It was their idea that a playground for children would be a nice way to leave a lasting memory of their and their families time in Kosice. The rehabilitation of the childrens driving course is hopefully the first step to a playground where children of all ages may enjoy themselves. The mayor of Kosice - South, Mr. Jaroslav Hlinka played a big part in seizing the opportunity to give enjoyment to the children in his area and to return this site to a useful purpose. USSK Special Maintenance division employees provided a part of traffic-playground reconstruction. The municipality also plans to revamp the skating rink and small lake. Completion of the project is expected in 2005.
Kids may try the traffic playground right from the opening day. 32 of them will compete under supervision of city Police corps members. During last 8 months 5080 traffic accidents have occurred in Kosice, 124 of which were caused by pedestrians. Winners of the competition will receive prizes. Mrs. Navetta, speaking on behalf of the American wives said, "We are pleased that the idea to renew the playground received so much support - children will have a place to visit and to learn about safety in traffic. Hopefully it will help reduce accident numbers". She also added that "all of the ex patriots hope to see other facilities for children added to this park".